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Hiotographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Cenadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 

1980 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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D 
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The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ♦-  (meaning  "CON- 
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whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
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required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
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Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimis  sont  filmis  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
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plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmis  en  comm^^npant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaltra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  ^^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  6  des  taux  de  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  6tre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichd,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  6  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

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THE  FIJOZEN  ZONE 


AND 


ITS  J^LX  PL(  )KE11S : 

A  COMPREHENSIVE  HECOKD  OF 

VoMcs,  Travels,  Ciscoyeries,  Aiveutiires  auil  Wbale-FisliiBg 


IN   THE 


ARCTIC  REGIONS 

Foil   ONE   THOUSAND   VKAIIS. 

WITH  A   FULL  AND  1!F,LL\HLE   HISTOHY  OF  THE  LATE   EXTEDI- 
TION  UNUKll  CILVKl.ES  FKANCIS  HALL 

IN   THE 

II.I.-J^^A^TJi:i>   l^OI.A^Ii  IS 

EMnitAciNa 
THi;   I)IS(<)\  IvKlKS  AM>  DKATll  OF  ITS  COMMANDI  I{  ;    Till;  1  liAKKfl, 

bix   MdNiTis' nuiKi' «)N   Tin:  ni;;  .ioiin    iikkko.n's  diauy  ; 
Tin:  WKKcKoF  T>"".  sikamkk;  a.ndiiik  iixai,  i:s»  atk 

(IK  CAl'TAIN  lU  MDIMiTON   AM>    CoMl'AMO.NS 
IN    OI'KN     JJOATS. 

ALSO,  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  8EAHCH  MADE  FOR  THE  CASTAWAYS 

r.V    TIIK 


IlI-ISTKATKII  with  One  ni-M>IIEI>    ANI>    SuVKXTV-riVK     KNOnAVINdS  AMI  MaI'S. 


WUITTEN,     AND     COMPILED     VUOM     AfTIIENTK!     SOUIICF.S, 

IIV 

ALE XANDKll  IlVDi:,  A.  M.,  KKV.  A.C.  IIAI.DWIX,  AND  liKV.  W.L  GAGK. 

TOWIIUII   IS   ADDED   A   SKKTCII   VV   I'l;.    K  A  N  P.,   IIV   TkoF.  I'll  A  lU.rs    \V.  Sll  1  KI.DS,  1).  1)., 
OK   riilM'KTO.N   (ul.l.Ktii:. 


G 

io  P ''' 


PUELISHE3D    BY    SUBSCRIPTION    ONLY. 
IIARTFOI.M),  CONN.: 

rOLUMTJTAiX     r.ooK     COMPANY. 

W.  E.  BLISS  &  CO.,  TOLEDO,  OHIO :      F.  UEWIXU  &  CO.,  SAX  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

1874. 


17 


En.cre.1  acconling  to  Act  of  Con,re.s.  i„  the  ;,ear  1874    by 

THE  COLUMBIAN  BOOK  COMl>ANV. 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Wa'shington. 


INTRODUCTIOX. 


The  Arctic  Regions,  cold,  dreary  and  desolate,  liave 
been  tlie  tlieatre  of  the  most  heroic  e\j)loit8  and  dar- 
ing adventures  tli'^  world  lias  ever  seen.  Here  the 
genius  of  such  men  as  l^affin,  Harentz,  Hudson,  Parry, 
Ross,  Franklin,  Kane  and  Hall,  has  found  am[)le  scope 
for  develoimient ;  and  a  taste  of  the  i)erils  and  haid- 
ships  of  the  Frozen  Zone  oidy  served  to  incite  them 
to  new  encountei's.  No  vision  of  "sunny  fountains 
rolling  down  their  golden  sands,"  or  ambition  for 
conquest  and  usurpe«l  power  filled  their  minds:  but 
the  love  of  adventure,  the  advjuicement  of  science, 
and  the  holier  impulses  of  humanity,  were  the  lode- 
stones  which  drew  them  towai'd  the  Pole. 

To  chronicle  faithfully  and  in  an  attractive  man- 
ner the  brilliant  achievements  of  these  a<lventur<ms 
spirits,  and  to  present,  incidentally,  graphic  j)ictures 
of  Life  and  Nature  in  the  Realms  of  Frost,  is  the 
object  of  this  book.  In  it,  culled  from  scores  of  vol- 
umes of  Arctic  Literature,  are  condensed  the  most 
interesting  records  of  a  thousand  years,  commencing 
with  the  discovery  of  Iceland  by  the  Northmen  in  801. 


IV 


TNTItOlU'CTKiV. 


Wliilo  no  important  cxiu'ditlon,  nor  ovon  tlio  cxjx?- 
rioncii  of  wIuiUms,  has  Itccn  ovcilookcd,  prctmiiu'iico 
has  been  ^ivcn  to  the  most  intcrcstiiiL;- on«'s,  aii<l  w  lu'ii 
prat'tii'abli!  the  story  is  told  in  tlie  cxjjloi-crs'  own 
^vor(!s,  as  in  the  case  of  Franl<lin  and  Kane;  no  one 
uill  rcijfrct  that  so  nuu'li  space  has  lu'cn  assigned  to 
their  inimitalde  narratives. 

The  histoiy,  discoveries  and  disasters  of  the  Pol.jris 
E.\]tedition,  with  tlie  perils  and  escapes  of  tlie  divided 
crew,  are  fully  narrated,  lunl  in  connection  with  the 
thrillinL?  diaries  of  .I(»hn  Ilcrion  and  Ih'rniMiin  Sir- 
mans,  ju'esent  one  of  the  most  interesting  I'pisode.s  of 
Arctic  Adventure. 

Franklin  and  his  crew  no  h)nger  need  relief,  and 
thauk.s  to  tlie  Pacific  Railroad  a  jN<trth-west  Passa-.c 
would  be  of  no  value.  A  voyage  to  the  Noi'lh  Pole 
seems  to  Ix!  the  only  thing  remaining  to  be  (h)ne  in 
the  way  of  Arctic  research,  "  wheieby  a  notable  ndnd 
can  make  itself  famous."  The  discoveries  of  o»ir 
countrymen  liave  pointed  out  the  only  route  tliither, 
"wljlch  can  be  tak<'n  with  any  ])rospect  of  success;  and 
apj)earances  indicate  that  an  English  exjjedition  on  a 
grand  scale  will  soon  attemj)t  to  foUow  in  tlie  tiack 
of  the  Advance  and  Polaris.  It  is  hojied  that  no 
reader  of  these  fascinating  ])ages  will  be  stinndalcd 
thereby  to  join  in  the  hazardous  enterprise;  but  tlna 
all  who  c(mtemj>late  the  heroic  daring,  sublime  for- 
titude, and  Christian  faith  and  resignation  under  most 
desperate  circumstances  which  many  Ai'ctic  exjjloiers 
have  disjdayed,  will  be  strengthened  in  their  purpose 
to  make  the  voyage  of  life  with  hope  and  courage. 


i 


CONTENTS. 


i 


iKCTCII    or    THK    LIFK   OF    DR.    KANK 1 

CIIAI'TEU  I. 

TiIK  AUCTK;   IlKlilOXS. 

Thi)  Arctic  Circlo— Tim  Arctii-  Oci'un— Tim  Arctic  \lj;lit— Tho  Mid- 
ni^lit  Sun — Sunimi-r  iitid  NViiniT— 11  iiulirul  Provirtiuu  if  Niitiir-— 
ChuractirlBtic  Fuaturt'S — Arctic  Ksi)l(ircr8 17 

CIIAI'TKU  II. 

EA11I.Y   DI8COVKUIK9  AND   IIISTOHY. 

T\w  Scandinavian  Mariners  ind  llii'ir  Vof  a;ji's — Discovery  of  Icclund — 
Eric  ill'!  lied — Discovi^ry  of  (Jrccnliiiul — Tim  NorthnKMi  in  .Vnmr- 
ica — Nortlurn  Vovaifuof  Colunibua— Sinry  of  tlit)  I'lirly  (Irccnlimd 
Settlers — U'lir  and  Pe>tili;ncu — Si-arcli  fir  tiie  1)^1  ColDnists— Huns 
Eycdc- — The  Moravian  Missions — A  V'ist  t  >  Liclitenfels — Tlie  native 
(Jn-enlanders — Tliu  Cahots  and  tlieir  Voyajjes — The  Lubiadi)r  Col- 
ony—  Frtcch  and  Portuguese  Explorers '33 

CIIAPTEIl  III. 

KNOMSII  EXPKDITIONa  TO  THE   NOKTII-E.V8T. 

Expcflition  under  Sir  Iluirli  VVillouglilty— .\  Sloriu  off  the  North  Cape 
— Nova  Zeiiibla  Scenery — \  Winter  on  the  Laidnml  Coast — Fiite  of 
the  Explorerp — Clinncelor'H  Visit  to  Moscdw — Tlie  Stiarchthrilt  and 
her  Cruiee — Enj^liah  Adventurers  in  Asia — Lake  Baikal — Pet  and 
Jackson— Mistakes  of  a  Oe()<,'rai)her 40 

CIIAPTKK  IV. 

DUTCH    I.XI'ICDITIOXS  TO  TIIIC   NOnTH-EAST. 

Wm.  IJarentz— The  Orang--  Islands— Noosinjr  a  Bear— The  Cape  of  Idols 
— Second  Exjjediiion — A  Hnsaian  Craft — Anionjf  the  Sainoiedef — 
Corueliz  Hyp — Discovery  of  Bear  Islands  and  Spitzbcr^en— Impris- 
oned— Buildinjf  a  House — Life  nt  Icy  Pi)rt — A  Winter  of  Ilanisliips 
—Feast  of  the  Kings — The  Sliip  Deserted — ley  Ramparts— Death  of 
Barcntz 47 


fi  CONTKNTfl. 

CIIAPFER  V. 

ARCTIC   VnYAORH   (IF   FKf»HIHIIKR   AND   DATtS. 

Karly  Engliih  AdvonturiTH— Martin  Friil)i»lu'r— "  Mi-U  Inooijnlta"— 
Fight  with  Ksquitimux — Ui'lic*  of  lost  Sailors— Fonmlc  rrisonor* — 
Tri'Bi'hory  of  the  NutivoH — FrubiHluT'H  tliinl  Kxpi>(lition — A  Storm — 
Till' Kxpi'dition  Astniy— "All  in  not  (Jolil  that  Olittorii"— Sir  Huni- 
pliroy  (tillKTt— L0H8  of  the  "  Squirri'l" — John  Davis — Thi'  "  Lnnil  of 
Di'Holntion  " — A  (irconlnnd  Dance — Voyage  with  the  Morniaid — 
Evquiinnux  Incantations— Kxuuraion  tu  tlio  Interior — The  Sailor*' 
AVarning — DcHcrtiun  of  Ships S9 

tTIAI»TER  VI. 

ARCTIC   VOYAGES   OF    IIKNIIY    III'II.ION   AND   OTIIF.RII. 

Weymouth's  Expedition— A  cowardly  Crew— Fate  of  ('apt.  Knight— 
An  Esquimaux  Attack — Hudson's  Polar  Voyage— A  Mermaid— Voy- 
age in  the  Half-moon— IIudNon'H  last  Voyage — Trouhle  with  the  Sail- 
ors—Discovery— In  Winter-',iiiirters— Mutiny— The  Tragedy  in  Hud- 
eon's  Bay — Adventures  '.;'"  tlie  Mutineers 85 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ARCTIC    VOYAOE8    OP   BAFFIN   AND   OTIIERfl. 

Button  nnd  Bylot— Capt.  Gibbons'  Adventure- Buffln's  early  Voyages- 
Memorable  Discoveries — Fotherby's  Voyiige — Danish  Expedition  — 
MunkA  disastrous  Voyage — The  F-::  and  James  Expedition — A 
Winter  of  SufTering—  Final  Escape — A  lost  Expedition— Heme — 
Mackenzie — Phipps- Cook 105 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    ARCTIC   WIIAI.E-FIHIIERY. 

Early  Fishing  Expedition — The  Spit/bergen  Seas — Adventures  of  Cap- 
tain Edge— Dutch  Enter])rise — A  Winter  in  Spitzbergen — An  Arctic 
Tragedy — Years  ».f  Peril — The  Whales'  Paradise  —  Shipwrecks — 
Meinoriuls  of  the  Hollanders 122 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    ARCTIC    WHAI-K-KISHKRV.    (cOXTIXfED.) 

Whale  Catching  in  Baffin's  Bay— Disasters  in  Melville  Boy-"  Baffin's 
Fair" — Yankee  Whalemen— The  Dundee  WlialingSteamers- Rescue 
of  the  Polaris  Crew 13C 

CHAPTER  X. 

CRUISE   OF   THE    ISABELLA    AND   ALEXANDER. 

Ross  nnd  Parry's  Expedition— On  the  Greenland  Coast— A  Secluded 
Race — Esquimaux  Ideas  of  a  Ship — The  Arctic  Highlanders— Signal        ^ 
of  Return HI 


<'t)NTKNTfl.  vii 

riiAiTKU  xr. 

rRriKR  or  tiik  iikci  a  ano  nnirKR. 
I'nrry  anil  Litlilon  KxiMulition  — Kntt-rinK  LiinrniiUT  Siiunil— Hopes  ami 
I )iitni)ii()intiiu'ntii— Dreary    Sliorm— Tlu'   Ili-wiird    Knrnid  — WinUT- 
«Hmrttr!i    iind    Aiminfmcntu— 'riu>    Ni)r«li    (Jiort^iiin  'riu-atre— Firo ! 
Fire  I  —A  llrfuk-up— A  KUi-ci-sfful  Kxpi-ilition  131 

CIIAITKU  XII. 

rRClKR   or   TDK    rt  KY    AND   IIKCI.A. 

I'lirry  ami  Ljod'h  Kxpidition — Tin-  Siivani-I»luiiiKTH— Uipul^o  llay — 
Frozin  in— TliioviiiK  Nativi-K — "Tho  KivalH"— "  Tin-  MtTiy  Dimtirii" 
— KKiiuiniaiix  Xfijfliltorii  Didrovcrrd — A»t(ini»liiiiK  tlic  NntiviH~An 
KxourHicin — A  Fi(iht  with  Walnir«~Sliipp»Ml  by  Ice — Ajfnin  Fri)Zin  in 
— A  rlii'iTinff  Spc'ctacU- — Tlie  fair  KH<|itiniaux — An  KMiuiinaux  Magi- 
cian— I'arry'H  third  Expedition   1G3 

ciiArricu  XIII. 

VOYAflK   OK   THK    IIdKOTUCA    AMI   TIIKNT. 

Iltiohnn  ond  Franklin's  Kxpi'diticn— Tin-  HindizvnuM  at  Mandaicna  Bay 
— An  Avahuiclii'— On  till' Kdj^e  of  tho  Ice— A  DanKcroiiH  Toxition — 
Escape  tu  Fair  llavi  n IH 1 

CMIAITKK  XIV. 
ihasm.in'm  nusT  i.am>  kxi-kditiox. 

Arrival  at  York  Factory —IV'rilo  of  River  Navipation— A  Winter'^  Jour- 
ney— Tentinj;  a  C'onjuriT's  Skill  — Indian  Customs  — Interview  witli 
Akaitclio— The  Wintir  at  Fort  Knterprise— lUciption  of  a  Cliief— 
Down  tlie  Copperniine  Kiver — Bloody  Falls— Kncounter  with  Esqui- 
maux—Voyage on  the  I'olar  Sea— The  Heturn  Journey  conmieneed — 
t'ros.sinjf  u  Kiver — Exeitinij  Adventures  — Building  a  Canoe— Sejiara- 
tion  of  the  Mi'n  — Junius  missing— A  Deserted  Fort — StJirvation — 
Life  at  Fort  Enterprise 184 

OIIAITER  XV. 

FnA.VKI.IN'S    FinST    LAND    KXI'KOITION    (rONTlXri.H.') 

Dr.  Richardson's  Narrative — Suspicious  Conduct  of  Micliel— The  Mur- 
der of  Hood— Richardson  Shoots  Michel— The  Retreat  to  the  Fort- 
Arrival  of  Indians— Relief  at  Hand— The  Journey  to  Fort  York 218 

»  CHAPTER  XVI. 

pkanki.in's   SKCOSD  I.ANI>   KXPEIHTION. 
The  Rendezvous  at  Oreat  Bear  Lake- Tlic   Winter  at  Fort  Franklin — 
At  the  Mouth  of  tlie  Mackenzie —The  Expedition  in  Troul)le— Contest 
with  the  Esi|uiniaux—.\   Brave   Interpreter— Voyage  along  the  Coiwt 
— Second  Winter  at  Fort  Franklin 231 


j 


vm 


CONTKNTS. 


cnAiTEii  xvir. 

ARCTIC   VOYAGES    OF    LYONS,    IllOIXIIY,    AXU   OTIII'.ns. 

Scorcsby's  Diricovi-rics— Excursimi  on  .Inn  Ahivfii— Anion;;  tlio  Moun- 
tiiins— AlVrilous  Dfucent— Dt'sorti'd  Ihiliitations— CniiseoftlR'Uriper 
— Saliino's  lU'searflit's  in  Ilijjh  Latitudt's— C)ii  tlic  llast  tini'nland 
Const- Scientific  Problems  Solved — Lyon's  Second  Voyaj;e — Tlie 
Sniiw-lmntin^'  — Hay  of  (lod's  Mercy — Beecbey's  Kxi)e(litii)n — Ap- 
jiroiicli  to  Kanicbatka — Tlio  Lawrence  Islanders — C'listoiiis  of  ilic 
Alaiikans — Wreck  of  the  Baryc— Skiriiiisbes  with  the  Natives   238 

CILVPTKU  XVI IL 

I'AKIJV'.S    ru.AU    VOYAGE. 

The  Ilecla  and  Her  Otitfit— In  Treurenlieri,'  IJay— The  Start  f)r  the  Pole 
— A  Journey  on  Ice — Drifting  South — A  Hopeless  Undertakini; — 
Ileclu  Cove 255 

CIIAPTEPt  XIX. 

EXPEniTION    OP    .IC.HN    AND    .lAME.S    C.    HOSS. 

Exi)edition  of  John  and  .Tames  C.  Itoss — Tlio  Victor}' — Life  at  Ilolstoin- 
bern — Arrival  at  Fury  IJeach — Frozen  In— Winter  at  Felix  Harbor — 
King  William's  Land— Discovery  of  the  Magnetic  Pole— The  Victory 
Deserted— Voyage  in  Open  Itoats — Uescued  by  the  Isabella — Keturn 
of  the  Lost  I'^xplorers 2C1 

CIIAPTEll  XX. 

GEORCiK    hack's    KXrEniTIONS. 

Overland  through  Canada — AVoman's  Rights  at  Norway  House — The 
Batteaux  and  Canoes— Indian  Suimner  F^ncampments — '•  Raising  the 
Devil" — Sad  Fate  of  Augustus — Running  the  Rapids — A  Desolate 
Region- Voyage  in  the  Terror— Fearful  Ice-drift 278 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

I.AXn    EXI>EI>ITI<)NS    OK    DI'.ASE,    SIMPSOX,    AND    RAK. 

A  Winter's  .Tourney— On  tlie  Coasts  of  Alaska — Down  ICseape  Rapids — 
Winter-Ciuarters  on  Great  Bear  Lake— Return  to  Red  River  Settle- 
nicnt— Simpson  Jlurdercd — Dr.  Rae's  Explorations 288 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

franklin's    last    VOYAGE,    WITH    A    SKETCH    OF    HIS    LIFE. 

Birth  and  Education — l^arly  Passion  for  the  Sea — A  Jlidshipman  at 
Trafalgar — At  Battle  of  New  Orleans— Arctic  Voyages— Governor  of 
Van  Dieman's  Land — The  Erebus  and  Terror — A  Lost  Expedition .  . .  296 

CHAPTER  XXIIL 

SEAKCIIE8    FOR    FRANKLIN. 

Expeditions  of  1848 — Voyage  of  Ross  to  I^ancaster  Sound — Overland 
Search  by  Richardson  and  Rae — The  Herald  and  Plover 304 


'n 


I 


CONTKNT8. 


IX 


CIIAITKR  XXIV. 

SEAUCIIES    FOU    FUANKLIN.    (CONTIXLED.) 

Austin's  Squiulron  — Discoveries  at  Bcechey  Island— Sledge  Expedition 
— Larrior  i'igoous — Cruise  of  tlic  Trincc  Albert — The  Lady  i'raiikliu. .  310 

CIIAITER  XXV. 

8KAUC1IES    FOR   FUANKLIN.    (cONTIN'f ED.) 

Ci)llinson  .'ind  McCiiire's  Expcilition— Cruise  of  the  Investigator— On  the 
Cojist  of  the  Continent— Up  Prince  of  Wales  Strait— Frozen  in  — Dis- 
covery of  ;i  North-west  Passage— A  Xiglit  Adventure— Life  at  Mercy 
15,iy-McCiintoek's  Cairn— Third  Winter  in  the  Ice— Helief  at  Hand 
—Visit  .)f  1/ieut.  Pirn— The  Ship  Deserted— Hetrcat  to  the  Resolute— 
(h'uise  of  the  Enterprise — Recent  Death  of  McClure 317 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

SEARCHES   FOR    FUANKLIN.    (coNTINrEn.) 

Second  Cruise  of  the  Prince  Albert— Party  Separated  from  the  Ship — 
A  Xiu'lit  at  Ciipo  SeppinjJts  — Ik  Hot's  Rescue  Party— Winter  at  Batty 
Bay — A  Visit  to  Eury  Beach — Somerset  House 332 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

SEARCHES   FOR    FRANKLIN.    ((  ONTIM T.n.) 

Expeditions  of  1852 — Belcher's  Squadron — News  of  McClure — Pim's 
Journey  to  Mercy  Bay— Kellett's  Adventures — Ahandoninent  of  the 
Ships — Ik'turn  to   England 330 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

SEARCHES    FOR     FRANKLIN.    (cilNTINrED.) 

Inglefield's  Voyages — Cruise  of  the  Plianix  and  Lady  Franklin — Death 
of  Bellot — Lieut.  Cress  well — Dr.  Rae  at  Repulse  Bay 345 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    FIRST    AMERICAN    I'.XPr.DITION. 

TIic  Advance  and  Rescue— Off  Newfoundland— The  Arctic  Day — Crown 
Prince  Islands  —Kayaks 349 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE    FIRST    AMKRICAN    K.\I'EDITION.     (CONTINUED.) 

Icohprg  Scenerj' — Wonders  of  Refracti(m— Arctic  Navigation — Borgs — 
A  Race — A  Pinch — Animal  Life — Frozen  Families 372 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE   FIRST    AMERICAN    EXPEDITION.    (CONTINUED.) 

The  Crimson  Cliffs — An  .Arctic  Garden — Trapping  the  Auks— Good-hyo 
to  Baffin — Franklin's  Eneami)ment  Discovered — The  Graves 399 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE   FIRST  AMERICAN   EXPEDITION.    (CONTIirUED. ) 

Visit  to  the  Resolute— The  Rendezvous— A  Gale— Order  for  Return— 
Frozen  in— Drifting— Fighting  the  Enemy— The  Aurora— Crisis— A 
Race  of  Pale  Faces — Midnight  of  the  Year — Returning  Light 428 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE    FIRST  AMERICAN   EXPEDITION.    (CONTINUED.) 

A  Gale — An  Escape — Floating  Bears— Esquimaux  Guests — A  Night 
Scene — In  an  Ice  Trap — The  Escape — Tlic  Governor's  Mansion — The 
Feast — Feats  of  the  Kayaker — Conclusion 478 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

DR.    KANE's   second   EXPEDITION. 

Rensselaer  Harbor — Camp  on  the  Floes — Sudden  Alarm — The  Rescue 
Party — The  Wanderers  Found — A  Bivouac — Esquimaux  Visitors — 
Death  of  Baker — Adventures  of  Morton  and  Hans — Signal  Cairn — 
The  Record— The  Arrest— The  Punishment— Our  Wild  Allies- 
Hunting  Excursion — Esquimaux  Homestead — A  Bear  Fight 519 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

DR.    KANE'S   SECOND  EXPEDITION.    (CONTINUED.) 

The  Cabin  by  Night — ^The  Hut  in  a  Storm — Hans  Discouraged — Day 
Dreams— Joyful  News — A  Sun  Worshiper — Famine  at  Etah — A 
Walrus  Hunt — The  Delectable  Mountains — A  Deserter — A  Morning 
in  the  Cabin— Shunghu's  Daughter — A  Noble  Savage — Enterprising 
Hunters 572 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
DR.  Kane's  second  expedition,  (continued.) 
Farewell  to  the  Brig— Approach  to  Etah — A  Midnight  Festival — A 
Crystal   Palace — At  the   Open    Water — Good-bye    to  Esquimaux — 
Embarkation — Weary    Man's    Rest — The    Esquimaux    Eden — Lost 
;    Among  Bergs—"  The  Seal !  "—Terra  Firma !— The  Welcome C04 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

the  iiartstene  relief  expedition. 

Narrative  of  John  K.  Kane 635 


CHAPTER  XXXVIIL 

FRANK  MN'S   fate    DISCOVERED. 

Dr.  Rae's  Discoveries — The  Fox  Expedition — Franklin's  Monument — 
Winter  in  Bellot  Strait — McClintock's  Discoveries— The  Cairn  at 
Point  Victory — Crozier's  Record— A  Buried  Boat— Return  of  the  Fox 
—Relics  of  Franklin— The  Story  of  the  Lost  Expedition C41 


I 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


T 


•w 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

ARCTIC    8IIIERIA    AND   ITS    EXPLORERS. 

Siberian  Exiles — Voyage  of  Dcslmcf—Bering's  IJiscoveries— Chelyus- 
kin's Explorations — The  New  Siberia  Islands— Anjou's  Travels — 
WrangcU's  Explorations — Skill  of  Siberian  Sledge-drivers  —  The 
"  Great  Russian  Polynia  " — The  Lower  Yenisei CG3 

CHAPTER  XL. 

TRAVELS    IN    ALASKA. 

The  Aleutian  Islands — Expeditions  of  Dall  and  \\rhyniper — Up  the 
Yukon— A  Winter  at  Nulato— The  Alaskans— Sitka C7(5 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

DR.    haves'    expedition. 

The  Voyage  to  Smith  Sound — Winter  at  Port  Foulke — Sledge  Journey 
— Grinnell  Land— Capo  Lieber — Return (>82 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

SKETCH   OF   CHARLES    F.  HALL,    AND   HIS    EARLIER   ARCTIC  TRAVELS. 

Early  Life — Proposes  to  Search  for  Franklin — Secures  Passage  in  a 
Whaler — Captain  Buddington — The  "George  Henry" — Frozen  in  at 
Field's  Bay — Visit  from  Ebierbing  an.l  Tookoolito— Excursions — Fro- 
hishcr  IJelics — "Fisherman's  Lutk" — Second  Winter  in  the  Joe — 
Return  Home — Second  Journey  to  the  North — The  Monticello — Resi- 
dence on  the  Northern  Coasts  of  Hudson's  Bay — A  visit  to  King  Wil- 
liiim's  Land — Relics  of  Franklin's  Expedition CSC 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

THE    POLARIS    KXPEDITION. 

Captain  Hall's  Plans — The  Polaris  and  her  Crew — Sketch  of  Otficcrs — 
On  the  Greenland  Coast — Pisco — The  Expedition  at  Upernavik — 
At  Tessuisak — Hall's  Good-bye  to  Civilization C'Jfi 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

THE   POLARIS   KXI'EIJITIOX.    (CONTINUED.) 

Adrift  on  the  Floes — Off  the  Labrador  Coast — A  Fearful  Position — Sig- 
naling the  Tigress — Rescued— Startling  News  from  the  Polaris — The 
Castaways  at  St.  John's — Suspicions — The  "Frolic" — At  Washington .   70(5 

CHAPTER  XLV. 

THE   POLARIS    EXPEDITION.    (CONTINUED.) 

The  Polaris  in  High  Latitude — Tiiank  God  Harbor — Hall's  Journey  to 
the  Nortli— Hall's  Last  Dispatch— Death  of  Hall— Joe's  Story- 
Funeral  <if  Captain  Hall — Tlie  AVinter  at  Polaris  Bay— Outside  of  the 
Ship — Returning  Day — Bear  Hunting— Excursions  to  the  North — 
Soparntion  from  the  Polaris — The  Drift  Southward — The  Rescue- 
Joe  and  Hans 711 


xu 


Co.NTK.N'rs. 


CIIAPTKll   XLVr. 
TiiF,  roi.Aiii.s  r.xrr.iiiTiox.   (c;  ntini.'kd.j 
Journal  of  Ilcrm.in  Sii'iiians,  a  Sciiiimn  rf  tlio  Pilaris,   Kxtcnding  from 
June  I'Oth,  1871,  to  October  l-'tli,  1«7-' 731 

ClIAPTEU  XLVII. 
THE  roi.Aius  i;xri:i)iTiox.   (coNTixt-'ED.) 
Diary  of  John  lU-rron,  Stewar<l  of  tlio  Polaris,  Kept  wliile  Drifting  on 

tho  lee  from  October  15tii,  KS7L',  to  April  oOtli,  187a 750 

CIIAll'EU  XLVIII. 

rOI.ARIS   SEARCH    AN1>   UEI.IEF    I.XI'EDITIOXS. 

Cruise  of  the  Juniata  anil  Tisjrcss— The  Little  Juniata— The  Tigress  on 
the  Trail  — Buddinuton's  Camp  Discovered— Interview  with  Ksqiii- 
inaux — Signaling  tho  Juniata  at  Niijht 7C9 

ClIAPTEU  XLIX. 

THE   POLARIS    EXPEDITION.     (COXCLIDED.) 

(.''aptain  TSuddington's  Narrative— The  Polaris  Wrecdved  and  Deserted  — 
Preparing  for  Winter — Visit  from  the  Natives  -  The  Vi'iiiter  nt  Life- 
Poat  Cove — The  Start  Homeward  — The  Jcurney  Southward- las- 
cued  by  the  llavcnscraig~A   Dundee  Whaler 776 

ClIAPTEU  L. 

GERMAN  Aurru:  i;xi'i:i)iTioNS. 

Destruction  of  the  "Hansa"— Crui.-i'  of  the  "  Germiinia " — Important 
Discoveries— Payer's  Expedition— The  "  Tegitlioti""  and  "Isbjorn". .   787 

ClIAPTEU  LI. 

SWEDISH   AN:>    NOItWECIAN    EXPEDITIONS. 

Captain  Carlscn's  Voyage— lee  Haven  Uevisited  — Uelics  of  the  Dutch 
Expedition — Nordenskiold's  Expedit(m— The  Winter  at  Mussel  Uiiy  — 
Startling  News — The  lee-Pound  Fishernu-n  and  Their  Fate-Cruiso 
of  the  "Albert"  and  "(inienhind  "—Disaster  on  the  Nova  Zenibhi 
Coast— The  "Diana"  and  "Samson" — Projiose<l  I'.nglish  Expedi- 
ti  .n  toward  the  North  Pole — Tribute  to  Captain  Hall 793 


I 


m 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Paoe. 

1  The  PoLAnis  in  High  Latitudk.^. (Front hjiiece.) 

2  PoKTIlAlT  C)F  Dii.  Kank 1 

■3  llorsK  IN  Havana  wiikiie  Uii.  Kane  I>iei) 10 

4  TUE  IjEHtl'E _. 18 

C  I'oiiTiiAir  OK  Sill  John  Kkanki.in 19 

6  Scene  dn  the  (Jkkeni-am)  t'oAsr 83 

7  View  op  Fi^^kkunaks,  (;hi;eni.anii, 33 

8  MoiiAViAN  Si/rTi.i;.Mi;M'  at  Lriitenfki.s, 83 

9  Ships  A monci  ItEu.is. 30 

10  WlNTKlt  IN    ^ll)^<(<)\V 4-1 

11  Ships  EsTANoi.Kii  IN  Icn, 46 

12  Lake  Kaikai..  Kasti:kn  Si:ieuia 47 

13  Votive  C'lmss  and  Midniuht  Stn— N<iitTUi:i:N  Uissia r>8 

11  The  Land  of  Desolation 73 

IS  FliEKillTEII  IcnilEIHi, 73 

1(1  The  Mii)1)i.i:  1'ai  k 81 

17  A  Sketch, 84 

18  Ks(iri.>!Arx  Htwi-TiCAMs 03 

lt(  lisijii.MAix  Snow  UoiMis 93 

20  AiicTif  AiiioiiA. 109 

SI  View  on  thi:  Spit/f.kiuien  Coast ..  109 

2d  Approaching  Winteu  -Jajieb'  Uav 115 

23  Arctic  Paiihki.ia 115 

81  The  Ici-IJocnd  IlAUiioK 1I« 

25  The  Kavakkk  in  a  (Iai.k 1-21 

20  A  Whaling  Scene 141 

27  Kayak  and  Oomiak, M3 

23  Whalers  Stopped  nv  the  I'ai  k 113 

89  An  IceCatuedual 144 

30  Cape  Isabella 117 

31  Cate  Alexandeh 117 

32  Track  op  the  IIecla  and  (Ikipei: 157 

33  Parry's  Ships  in  Winter  (^lAinKHs, 157 

31  Stranded, lOj 

35  The  "Merry  Dancers," 107 

SO  Watchinu  rou  Indian  IIocse-Thieves, ISH 

87  lIuNTiNO  ON  Snow-Shoks 191 

88  DisonsED  Htfpalo  Uiinteus, ]!)1 

39  IIUNTEUs'  Winter  Camp t>00 

40  A  Ilt'NOUY  UXPLOIIEII, 217 

41  Overland  ExPLouER? 230 

43  A  Station  op  the  IIidson's  Bay  Company, 231 

43  The  Mariner'si  I'ompass 2.'i7 

41  Pethopaulski,  Kamchatka S-'O 

45  Uosey-Combfd  Iceueiiu, 25-1 


XIV 


ILLUSTUATJONS. 


46  Jack  AND  Ilia  "Dker," 980 

47  An  IcB  Briuue, 877 

48  Indian  Summkk  Encampment, jgO 

49  MUOHE  llUNTlNO  IN  CANOES 28|> 

60  A  Lead  Tunuuuu  tub  Kloe 387 

51    WlNTEIl  CUUItlKIW  or  TUB  I'UIl  COMPANY, 288 

5'J  KiioDED  Beku, 809 

53  llUMMOCKS, 316 

54  BEEcnET  Island, 340 

65  The  IcB-BAiutiEn, 340 

6()  Toe  Advance  and  Uescue  at  Navy  Yard S53 

67  Oim  First  Icebehu 363 

68  The  Sukkebtoppen, 369 

5i»  Entekino  Uisco, 869 

C;;  Disco  IlcTS, 360 

01  Inspectors'  House,  Lievely, 869 

62  Amono  the  Bergs, S69 

63  Group  of  Seals, 370 

64  ICEBERO 371 

65  Glaciers  of  Jacob's  BiauT 373 

66  In  A  Foo, 373 

67  Tracking, 381 

68  Kayacks, 381 

6U  Woman's  Boat 382 

70  The  Devil's  Thumb, 3M 

71  Melville  Bay, 394 

7'J  Esquimaux  on  Snow-Suoes, 398 

73  Looking  for  Water, 403 

74  Bessie's  Cove, 403 

75  Tub  Advance  in  February, 465 

70  Winter  in  tub  Pack,  465 

77  Bird'b-Eye  View  op  Ice-Floe 484 

7S  Es(iuiMAux  Beauties, 489 

79  Tub  Governor's  Sons 493 

80  Saluting  tub  Provknese, 495 

81  Good-Bye  to  the  Prince  Albert, 490 

82  Interior  of  a  Native  Hut,  L'peunavik 499 

83  The  Governor's  Mansion, 506 

84  Harpooning  Seals 517 

85  Fastened  to  an  Iceberg, 621 

86  Parting  Hawsers, 521 

87  Sylvia  Headland— Inspectino  a  Harbor 527 

83  The  Advance  Frozen  in  at  Kensselaer  Harbor, 527 

89  In  the  Tent, 533 

90  Pinnacly  Berg 533 

91  Tub  Rescue  Party, 634 

92  Loading  the  Faith, 643 

93  First  Meeting  with  Esquimaux, 643 

94  Tent  on  the  Floes, 649 

03  The  Bear  in  Camp, 649 

96  Gathering  Moss 549 

97  Morton  and  Hans  Entering  Kennedy  Channel 553 

98  Morton  and  Hans  LEA^^NG  the  Channel, 553 

99  Kennedy  Channel, 561 

100  View  from  Cape  Constitution, 561 

101  An  Es(iuiMAUX  Homestead, 567 

102  Wild  Dog  Team 567 

103  Arctic  Moonlight, 573 


^ 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XV 


^ 


104  Thb  Ice-Foot  Canopt 673 

I(>5  Tub  Bhiu  in  uek  Wintkk  Ckadlk 67U 

KMl  APlMiOACIIINO  TUB  DE!«EI(TE1I  lluT 679 

1117  Tub  Opkn  Wateii, 670 

105  AucTic  Sea-Oi'll8 685 

liKI  KiUEii  Island  Di'ck.i 685 

110  Tub  Waluiis  Hf.sxBn 601 

111  Tub  Atluk.  oh  Heal-Hole, 600 

lia  SUOOTINO  Seai 600 

ll;l  WaLUUS  SPOIITINO 600 

111   E:4()UIMAL'X    rollTHAITX— 1'AI'I.IK— AnAK— ACCOMODAH, COS 

115  UltERNLANU  ClIILDKEN  I'l.AYINCI  HaI.I., 000 

llti  Catcuinu  Ai'Ks 000 

117  HoatC'ami'  I.N  A  Stohm. 017 

lis  OOOD-IIYE    TO  THE  EtHJIlMArX, 017 

110  UlKI)i<  or  I'llOVIKENCE    (-'I.IFFS, 0^7 

I'Jil  I'as!iin(»  the  I'lHiiaoN  C'Lirrn 0'J7 

Itil  Cape  Welcome, 03.1 

Vii  Orn  FinsT  K avak im 

l-i'J  The  Faith, rM 

121  A  Small  Wateii  Pahtv (i-'iO 

123  DiacovEKY  op  Fiianklin'h  C'aiiis 0-13 

120  Relics  op  the  Lost  Exi'loi!k1!s 048 

127  The  Gredi's  and  Tekuou  i.s  the  Ice-Stukam t),j7 

128  Funeral  op  Sir  John  Franklin tiri7 

12!)  A  I'oLAB  Beau  I'knic W>3 

l.'IO  Exiles  En  iioute  pou  Siiieuia 0(13 

131  A  Siberian  Fort 0*,j 

132  Travelinu  in  Kamchatka, O'.ii 

13.3  Aleutians  C'atchino  Whales OTO 

134  Fort  Xclato,  Alaska— Al'roiul  Liuiit, 070 

13.)  A  Deer  Corrai tM 

130  View  op  Sitka,  Alaska O'i'i 

137  Portrait  op  Captain  Ci;ahles  ]•'.  Ham (liW 

1.38  Portrait  op  Caitain  S.  O.  HruuiNoToN 0!)8 

i;!0  Portrait  op  Captain  (Jeorue  E.  Tyson, 003 

140  SlIlNALINU  THE  TlOliESS 7(1.1 

141  FiTNEBAL  OP  Captain  Hall,  at  Polaris  Uav, 718 

142  A  Bear  Hunt, 7;iO 

143  Meeting  op  the  Flors 740 

141  Formation  op  Himmock-* 708 

14,>  LiPB  on  the  DllIPTIMl  II  K-FlKI.I) 7(10 

IKi  Portraits  ok  .Ioe,  Hannah,  and  Sylvia 772 

147  The  11  ansa  Crushed— Escape  op  tukCkew 7S7 

148  Count  Wilczec  in  Nova  Zembla 701 

140  Relics  of  the  Putcii  Expedition, 703 

150  Barentz's  Hoi'se  at  Ice  Haven 703 

Aiid  Twenty  SinuUer  Engraving's. 

MAPS,  Etc. 

CmciTMPOLAn  Map 1 

Map  op  the  American  Arctic  Sea, 2.3 

Ancient  Map  op  Spitzberoen, 120 

Chart  opthr  Whale-Fish  Islands .308 

Chart  Suowinu  the  Discoveries  op  Kane,  Hayes,  and  Hall, (i-W 

FaO  BLUILES, 6-19-050 


i 


!K  1 1:  t-  IHi  A\  K  W.  F!  ir  K  A  ^^.  &.,  Ifti.  I!v^  n: .  e^.  W. 


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A     S  K  E  T  (•  II     O  V     T  II  K     1.  I  V  K     O  V 

KLISllA    KENT    RANK,    M.D.,    U.  S.  N., 


PROF.    CIIAULES  W.   SIHELDH,    I).  IL,    OK   miNCETON  COLI-EOE,    X.   J. 

The  Life  of  Dr.  Kant!  is  alreaily  a  fireside  talu.  Kvory  one  is 
faiiiiiiar  with  it  as  llio  story  of  a  youiijjf  kiiijfht-frraiit  of  |iliilaiitlin>])y 
and  si'ient'c,  who  traversed  nearly  llio  wliole  surface  of  tlie  ylulx",  within 
the  short  period  of  fourteen  years;  wlio  (gathered  here  and  tliere  a 
hiurel  from  every  walk  of  physical  research  in  which  he  strayed ;  who 
phniii'ed  into  the  thick  of  perilous  adventure,  abstracting  in  the  spirit 
of  philosophy,  yet  seeinj^  with  the  eye  of  ])oesy,  and  loviuiij  with  the 
lieart  of  humanity;  who  penetrated,  under  such  impulses,  even  {o  the 
Northern  pole  of  the  planet  and  remained  secluded  amidst  the  horrors 
of  two  Arctic  winters;  wiio  returned  like  one  come  back  from  another 
world,  to  invest  the  very  story  of  his  escape  with  the  chanus  of  litera- 
ture and  art,  and  transport  us,  hy  his  graphic  pen,  into  .scenes  we 
scarcely  realize  as  heloiiiiin^  to  the  earth  we  inhabit;  and  who  died  at 
length,  in  the  flush  of  his  manhood  and  the  morning  of  his  fame, 
lamented  by  his  country  and  the  world. 

To  write  the  story  of  such  a  life  ivs  it  should  be  written,  would  bo 
impossible  within  the  limits  assioncd  to  this  memoir,  and  notliini^  more, 
therefore,  will  be  here  attempted  than  such  a  sketch  as  may  serve  to 
introduce  this  new  edition  of  his  works  to  the  reader.  As  we  trace  the 
asual  bioy-raphical  themes,  though  in  the  briefest  manner,  it  will  bo 
found  that  his  origin  and  education,  the  leading  events  in  his  career, 
the  prominent  traits  of  his  character,  liis  p\iblic  services,  and  his  private 
life  and  last  moments,  together  yield  an  impression  which  is  suited  at 
once  to  justify  his  fame  and  perpetuate  the  lessons  he  has  left  to  the 
world.  •< 


2 


LIFE    OF     DR.     KANE. 


Elisha  Kent  Kane,  the  leader  in  the  American  search  for  Sir  John 
Franklin,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Fob.  3,  A.  D.  1820.  He  received 
the  name  of  Iiis  grandfatlier,  wlio  had  liimself  been  named  after  his  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  the  Reverend  Elisha  Kent,  of  "Kent's  I'arisli,"  N.  Y., 
and  he  was  baptized  by  his  nnclc,  the  Reverend  Jacob  J.  Janeway, 
D.  D.,  then  pastor  of  the  Second  I'rcsbyterian  Church,  which  hi» 
parents  attended. 

Oil  the  father's  side  ho  was  descended  from  Colonel  John  Kane,  of 
the  British  Army,  his  great-grandfather,  who  came  from  Ireland  to  tlr. 
colony  of  New  York  about  the  year  1756,  retired  to  Dutchess  County, 
and  there  married  Miss  Sybil  Kent,  dangliter  of  the  clergyman  above 
nanie<l,  and  aunt  of  Chancellor  Kent.  Ills  grandfather,  Elisha  K.  Kane, 
■was  a  successful  nierchant  in  Albany  and  New  York,  who  married  Miss 
Alida  ^'an  Rensselaer,  daughter  of  Ccncral  Robert  Van  Rensselaer,  of 
Claveniek,  and  subsequently  removed  to  riiiladelpiiia.  His  father,  the 
late  lion.  John  K.  Kane,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  successively 
a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  bar,  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  and 
Judirc  of  the  United  States  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsvl- 
vania,  was  well  known  as  an  acute  and  learned  jurist  witliiu  his  profes- 
sion, as  an  influential  statesman  of  the  old  school  of  politics,  an  active 
promoter  of  the  arts,  sciences,  and  charities  in  Philadelphia,  an  siccom- 
plished  scholar  in  classical  and  English  literature,  and  a  courtly  gentle- 
man in  society.  And  the  culture,  efficiency,  and  tact  which  distin- 
guished him  in  every  relation  of  life  were  not  wanting  in  his  honored 
son. 

On  fhe  mother's  side  he  Avas  descended  from  Thomas  Leiper,  a 
younger  son  of  a  Scotch  family  of  French  origin,  who  came  in  search 
of  fortune  about  the  year  1764,  to  the  colony  of  Virginia,  and  thence 
to  PeiMisylvaiiia ;  built  extensive  mills  near  Philadelphia;  aided  in 
forming  the  First  City  Troop,  and  served  with  distinguished  gaHantry 
in  tlie  battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton  ;  united,  after  the  war,  with 
his  warm  piMsonal  friend,  T'resideiit  Jefferson,  in  organizing  the  polit- 
ical party  which  looked  to  him  for  its  leader  ;  and  as  a  zealous  advo- 
cate of  public  improvements,  laid  down  the  first  experimental  railway 
constructed  in  the  United  States.  ILj  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Coltas 
Gray,  the  daughter  of  the  Hon.  George  Gray,  of  Gray's  Ferry,  and  of 
Martha  Ibbetsou  Gray,  whose  generous  services  in  nui"sing  the  sick  and 
wounded  prisoners  during  the  occupation  of  Philadelphia  by  Lord 
Ilowe,  attracted  public  testimonials  from  both  parties.  Their  daughter, 
Jane  Duval  Leiper,  as  Mrs.  Kane,  illustrated  the  traits  proverbial  in 
the  mothers  of  great  men  by  combining  with  the  virtues  of  the  Spartan 


LIFE    OF    DR.     KANE. 


8 


matron,  tliat  ciicriiy,  nerve,  elasticity,  and  warm-licartediicss  wliich 
became  famous  in  her  son. 

Oil  both  sides,  his  ancestry  in  tliia  country,  it  will  be  seen,  dates 
before  the  American  Kovohition,  being  derived  in  the  paternal  line  from 
Irclanil,  Holland,  and  Enjrlatid,  and  in  the  maternal  line  from  Sctitland, 
England,  and  France,  while  the  corresponding  religions  blended  in  it 
were  the  Episcopalian,  Dutch  Reformed,  ami  Congregational,  with  the 
Presbyterian,  Quaker,  Methodist,  and  Moravian.  And  the  names  whieli 
it  embraces  are  here  mentioned,  not  merely  because  he  has  himself 
written  then),  with  a  just  pride,  upon  the  map  of  the  Arctic  seas,  but 
also  as  serving  to  explain  that  rare  combination  of  varied  and  even 
opposite  elements  of  race,  of  creed,  and  of  culture,  w  hich  entered  into 
the  formation  of  his  character. 

When  Mr.  Kane  and  Miss  Leipcr  first  met,  they  were  in  tlie  prime 
of  youthful  strength  and  beauty  ;  and  after  a  courtship,  the  romance 
of  which  has  become  a  family  tradition,  they  were  married,  April  20, 
1819.  Elisha  was  the  eldest  of  their  children.  Three  other  sons  and 
a  married  dau<rhter  are  stiil  livinn;. 

In  Dr.  Kane,  as  in  most  men  who  aeliicve  greatness,  the  lioy  fore- 
shadowed the  man.  Arctic  explorations  were  prefigured  by  juvenile 
feats  of  daring  and  contrivance.  His  biographer  relates  that  when  but 
a  child,  he  scaled  the  roof  by  moonlight  with  liis  younger  brother, 
while  the  family  were  asleep,  feeling  repaid  for  the  perilous  adventure 
by  the  "grand  view"  from  the  chinmey-top.  Traits  which  afterwards 
shone  out  before  the  world,  already  a[)pearcd  in  the  school-room  and 
on  the  playground,  wliere  he  became  a  spirited  little  champion  of  the 
weak  and  oppressed,  repelling  imposition  from  any  quarter  with  uncal- 
culating  courage,  and  yet  fus  quick  to  forgive  as  to  resent  an  injury. 
His  tastes,  too,  began  to  show  the  bias  of  coming  years.  He  had  his 
own  small  cabinet  of  minerals,  birds,  and  insects,  and  his  chenucal  lab- 
oratory, the  latter  to  the  fretpient  alarm  of  the  household — and  his 
favorite  books  were  Uobiuson  Crusoe  and  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

But  if  it  is  easy  now  to  trace  the  beginnings  of  his  career,  it  was  not 
80  easy  then  to  forecast  it.  Fonder  of  sports  than  of  books,  full  of 
generous  but  ill-regulated  impulses,  and  impatient  of  control,  his 
course  as  yet  was  like  that  of  a  mountain  torrent  which  has  not  found 
and  made  its  channel ;  and  it  was  only  when  he  began  by  his  own 
etforts  to  retrieve  his  neglected  education,  that  parental  anxiety  was 
relieved. 

His  father  would  have  had  him  follow  in  bis  own  footsteps  at  Yale ; 
but   his  inclination  was  more  towards  science  than  learning,  and  the 


mma 


LIFE     OF    DK.     KANE. 


!  . 


I'  I    I 


,       ? 


optional  course  of  study  which  the  University  of  Virginia  ullowcd,  was 
found  better  adapted  to  his  somewhat  exceptional  genius.  lie  was  in 
his  seventeenth  year  when  he  entered  the  university,  and  during  the 
year  and  a  half  tliat  he  studied  there,  made  good  progress  in  the  clas- 
sical and  mathematical  course  proscribed,  as  well  as  in  liis  own  chosen 
sciences  of  chemistry,  mineralogy,  geology,  and  civil  engineering.  It 
was  at  tiiis  time  he  said  to  his  cousin  that  he  "intended  to  make  his 
mark  in  the  world."  And  the  resolution  seems  to  have  derived  im- 
pulse from  an  event  which  abruptly  ended  his  collegiate  course  a  little 
before  the  time  of  graduation.  I'rostrated  by  an  acute  rhcumntism  of 
the  heart,  ho  was  wrapped  in  a  blaidcet  and  taken  by  slow  journeys 
home  to  Philadelphi.i,  where  he  endnreil  frightful  paroxysins  of  pain, 
and  for  days  appeared  to  be  on  the  brink  of  deatli.  He  recovered,  to 
learn  from  his  physicians  that  he  might  fall  as  suddenly  as  by  a  muslcet 
shot.  The  decision  with  which  he  went  back  to  the  duties  of  life  was 
only  anticipated  by  his  father's  counsel :  "Elisha,  if  you  must  die,  d' 
in  harness." 

Turning  from  the  profession  of  a  civil  engineer  to  that  of  a  pliysician, 
in  his  niueteenth  year,  he  was  matriculated  in  ttic  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  after  attending  one  course  of 
lectures,  while  yet  an  undergraduate,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  Resi- 
dent Physicians  in  the  Hospital  at  Blockley.  His  preceptors  and  asso- 
ciates have  all  publicly  spoken  of  the  remarkable  zeal  and  success  with 
which  he  prosecuted  his  studies  and  performed  his  dnties  in  these  posi- 
tions. Indeed  his  graduating  thesis  on  the  subject  of  "Kj-estcin  "  was 
80  highly  esteemed  that  it  was  published  by  a  vote  of  the  Faculty,  and 
attracted  the  general  notice  of  the  profession.  It  is  still  quoted  as  an 
authority  botli  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

It  had  become  plain  that  Dr.  Kane's  cardiac  disorder  combined  with 
his  scientific  tastes  and  aspirations  to  untit  him  for  the  routine  life  of  a 
practitioner,  and  that  travel,  adventure,  and  incessant  activity  were  with 
him  a  physical  need  as  well  as  a  n)oral  impulse.  He  had  no  taste  for 
the  social  blandishments  under  which  young  men  born  to  ease  and  ele- 
gance too  often  waste  their  prime,  and  the  stagnant  political  condition 
of  the  country  at  that  time  afforded  none  of  the  generous  careers  \vhi(,'h 
have  since  been  opened  to  them.  Neither  could  he  accept  for  himself 
the  fate  of  a  mere  invalid  tourist  or  reckless  adventurer,  intent  on 
crowding  into  a  short  lifetime  the  utmost  amount  of  mere  aindess 
diversion.  There  must,  if  possible,  be  a  color  of  scientific  enthusiasm 
to  sanction  his  life  of  physical  hardihood. 

His  father,  acting  upon  this  enlightened  view  of  his  case,  applied  for 


LIFE    OF    DR.     KANE. 


6 


liim  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  for  the  post  of  surgeon  in  the  scp- 
vioe;  and  after  passing  tlic  required  examination  so  creilitahiy  tliat  the 
disqualifying  state  of  liis  health  was  overlooked  hy  the  Board  of 
Examiners,  he  was  appointed  ])liysipian  of  the  Chinese  Endiassy, 
which  sailed  in  the  frigate  Biandywine,  Commodore  Parker,  in  May, 
1843. 

During  the  two  vears  that  lie  was  ahsent  upon  this  his  first  extended 
tour  of  travel,  ho  made  a  complete  circuit  of  the  globe,  sailing  around 
tlie  coast  of  South  America,  across  the  I'acific  Ocean  to  Southern  and 
Eastern  Asia,  and  returning  by  the  overland  route  through  Europe, 
across  the  Atlantic  to  the  United  States.  And  that  spirit  of  dauntless 
research  which  actuated  l)im  through  life  seems  every  where  to  have 
brought  with  it  its  own  proper  atmosphere  of  marvelous  incident  and 
peril. 

AVliile  the  vessel  remained  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  after  participating  with 
the  diplomatic  corps  in  the  coronation  of  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  he 
visiteil  the  Eastern  Andes  for  a  geological  survey  of  that  region.  At 
Bombay,  where  the  legation  awaited  some  months  tlie  arrival  of  its 
chief,  Mr.  Gushing,  by  the  overland  route,  he  seized  the  opportunity  for 
similar  inland  journeys,  exploring  the  cavcrned  tenq)les  of  Elephanta, 
traveling  by  palanquin  to  the  less  known  ruins  at  Karli,  pas^inn;  over 
to  Ceylon,  and  cngagino-,  with  some  ofllcers  of  the  garrison,  in  the  ele- 
phant hunt,  and  the  otlier  wild  sports  of  the  island.  But  it  was  at 
Luzon  or  Luconia,  a  Spanish  possession  in  the  China  Sea,  tliat  tliis 
adventurous  spirit,  though  under  a  scientific  impulse,  passed  tlie  limits 
of  prudence  in  bis  far-famed  exploration  of  tlie  crater  of  Tael,  a  vol- 
cano on  the  Pacific  coa.-t  of  the  island,  in  a  region  iidiabited  only  by 
savages.  Crossing  over  to  the  capital  city  of  tbe  island,  during  one  of 
the  long  delays  of  Chinese  dijilomacy,  he  procured  an  escDVt  of  natives 
from  tlie  Archbishop  of  Manilla,  (by  means  of  letter^  from  Ainerican 
prelates  which  he  had  secured  before  leaving  home,)  ami  in  coiii))any 
with  his  friend  Baron  Loo,  a  relative  of  Metternich,  penetrated  across 
the  country  to  the  asphaltic  lake  in  which  the  island  vulcano  is  situ- 
ated. ]]oth  gentlemen  at  first  descended  together,  until  they  rearhcd 
a  pre(;ipi('c  overhanging  the  cavernous  gulf  of  tbe  crater,  when  the 
baron  saw  further  progress  to  be  impossible,  but  the  doctor,  in  spito 
of  the  remonstrances  of  the  whole  party,  insisted  upon  being  lowered 
over  the  ledge  by  tueans  of  a  rope  made  of  bamboos,  and  held  in  tho 
hands  of  the  natives  under  the  baron's  direction,  until  he  reached  tho 
bottom,  two  huudred  feet  below.  Loosing  himself  from  the  cord,  ho 
forced  his  way  downwards  through  the  sulphurous  vapors,  over  tho  hot 


6 


LIFE     OF    DR.     KANE. 


r'  :l 


11 


li 


t  ' 


aslics,  to  tlic  green,  boiling  lake,  dipped  liis  specinicn-bottio  into  its 
waters,  voturiicd  to  the  rope,  several  times  stninbling,  abuost  stifled, 
and  with  his  boots  charred,  one  of  them  to  a  coal,  but  sneceeded  in 
again  fastening  himself,  and  was  hauled  np  by  his  assistants  and  re- 
ceived into  their  hands  exhausted  and  almost  insensible,  llomedies 
brouglit  from  the  neighboring  hermitage  were  .ipplied,  and  he  was  so 
far  restored  that  they  could  proceed  on  their  journey.  Rut  rumors 
spread  before  them  among  the  pigmy  savages  on  the  island,  of  the  pro- 
fane invasion  which  had  been  made  into  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the 
Tacl,  and  an  angry  mob  gathered  around  them,  which  was  only  dis- 
persed by  one  or  two  pistol  shots  and  the  timely  ariival  of  the  padres. 
The  trophies  of  this  expedition  were  some  valuable  mineral  specimens, 
a  bottle  of  sulphur  water,  a  series  of  graphic  views  from  recollection 
in  his  sketch-book,  and  a  written  description  of  the  volcano  by  one  of 
the  friars,  which,  after  many  wanderings,  was  put  in  his  hands  as  he  sat 
at  the  home  dinner-table,  twelve  years  afterwards. 

Resigning  his  post  in  the  diplomatic  mission.  Dr.  Kane  practiced  his 
profession  in  Whaujpoa,  un.til  he  was  sufficiently  in  funds  to  pursue  his 
journey  homeward  through  Calcutta  by  the  overland  route.  After 
exploring  the  interior  of  India,  including  the  Himalaya  mountains,  he 
was  admitted  with  his  friend,  Mr.  Dent,  a  British  official,  into  the  suite 
of  Prince  Tagore,  one  of  the  native  Hindoo  nobles,  then  on  his  way  to 
the  court  oi'  Queen  Victoria,  and  traveled  under  this  safe  conduct 
through  Persia  and  Syria,  as  far  as  Upper  Egypt.  At  Alexandria  he 
received,  through  an  introduction  by  Prince  Tagore  to  the  Pasha  Me- 
hcmet  Ali,  a  special  firman  by  which  he  was  enabled  safely  to  traverse 
the  region  of  Egyptian  ruins.  But  the  journals  of  a  large  part  of  this 
expedition,  as  of  the  whole  previous  tour,  were  unfortunately  lost  by 
the  upsetting  of  his  boat  in  the  Nile.  In  the  ruined  temple  of  Karnak 
ho  met  with  Professor  Lepsius,  the  renowned  Egyptologist,  with  whom 
he  traveled  some  time,  and  at  Luxor  he  proved  that  archaeological  re- 
search is  sometimes  more  curious  than  effective,  by  climbing,  as  had 
never  been  done  before,  between  the  colossal  knees  of  the  statue  of 
Memnon,  in  hopes  of  finding  some  hieroglyph  on  the  underside  of  the 
tablet  in  the  lap  of  the  figure. 

His  sensitive  organization,  throughout  life,  seems  to  have  reflected 
with  peculiar  intensity  the  disease  of  every  country  through  which  he 
traveled.  As  at  Macao  he  had  been  prostrated  by  the  rice-fever,  so  at 
Alexandria  ho  was  seized  with  an  attack  of  the  plague.  When  suffi- 
ciently recovered  to  pursue  his  journeyings,  he  set  out  for  Greece,  and 
made  the  tour  of  that  classic  land  on  foot.     Athens,  Flataca,  Mount 


LITE    OF    DR.     KANE.  f 

ITelicon,  Themiopyla;,  Piirnassua,  were  snccessively  visiteJ,  after  which 
ho  passed  to  Trieste,  and  thence  tliroiigh  Germany  to  Switzerhmd, 
where  tiic  glaciers  of  the  Alps  yielded  him  the  ice-theories  which  he 
afterwards  tested  in  the  Arctic  regions. 

His  design  liad  been  to  return  to  Manilla,  in  the  island  of  Luzon, 
with  a  license  from  the  Spanish  authorities  to  practice  his  profession  ; 
but  failing  in  this,  or  iMinquishing  it,  he  at  length  yielded  to  urgent 
solicitations  from  home,  and  returned  by  way  of  Italy,  France,  and 
England,  to  the  United  States. 

Dr.  Kaue  was  at  this  time  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  had  already 
developed  the  traits  for  which  he  was  subsequently  distinguished.  The 
Reverend  George  Jones,  chaplain  to  the  Chinese  Embassy,  sj)eiiks  of 
him  as  "then  very  youthful-looking,  with  a  smooth  face,  a  florid  com- 
plexion, very  delicate  form,  smaller  than  the  common  size;  but  with  an 
elastic  step,  a  bright  eye,  and  great  enthusiasm  in  manner,  which  also 
mixed  itself  with  his  conversation,  lie  seemed  to  be  all  hope,  all 
ardor,  and  his  eye  appeared  already  to  take  in  the  whole  world  as  his 
own."  And  another  of  his  associates  in  the  diplomatic  mission, 
Fletcher  Webster,  Esq.,  has  said  that  "  in  social  intercourse,  although 
agreeable  and  very  bright  when  called  out,  he  still  seemed  to  be  think- 
ing of  something  above  and  beyond  what  was  present.  To  his  great 
ecientific  taste  and  knowledge,  and  his  energy  and  resolution,  he  added 
a  courage  of  the  most  dauntless  kind.  The  idea  of  personal  appre- 
hension seemed  never  to  cross  his  mind.  He  was  ambitious,  not  of 
mere  personal  distinction,  but  of  achievements  useful  to  mankind  and 
promotive  of  science." 

On  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  he  successfully  devoted  himself  for  a 
time  to  his  profession,  both  as  a  teacher  and  practitioner  of  medicine, 
though  being  still  a  titular  sui^eon  of  the  Navy,  he  had  put  his  name 
on  the  roll  as  "  waiting  for  orders."  Accordingly,  three  weeks  before 
the  declaration  of  war  against  Mexico,  in  May,  1846,  he  was  ordered  to 
the  coast  of  Africa,  in  the  frigate  Uniteil  States,  under  Commodore 
Reed.  When  at  Rio  Janeiro  in  184,1,  he  had  received,  in  return  for 
professional  services,  from  the  famous  Portuguese  merchant.  Da  Sousa, 
introductory  letters  to  his  commcrcical  representatives  on  the  African 
coast,  by  means  of  which  he  now  visited  and  examined  the  slave-fac- 
tories; and  while  the  frigate  was  in  harbor,  he  also  joined  a  caravan 
going  to  the  interior,  and  was  presented  at  the  court  of  his  savage 
majesty  the  king  of  Dahomey,  where  he  became  convinced  that  even 
the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage  were  merciful  compared  with  those 
from  which  its  victims  had  been  rescued. 


8 


LIFE    OF    DR.     KANJ:. 


ii 


ii: 


From  tliis  comparatively  inglorious  field  of  the  public  service,  Dr. 
Kane  was  transferred  by  a  virulent  attack  of  the  coast-fever,  which, 
after  bringing  him  to  the  point  of  death,  required  his  immediate  return 
liomc.  He  reached  I'hiladolphia  utterly  broken  in  health,  but  eager  to 
mingle  in  the  stirring  scenes  then  passing  in  Mexico,  from  which  ho 
had  been  withheld  during  his  ten  months'  absence.  AVhcn  scarcely 
yet  convalescent,  ho  hastened  to  Washington,  obtained  credentials  aa 
bearer  of  dispatches  to  General  Scott,  then  in  the  Mexican  capital,  and 
after  stopping  in  Kentucky  to  procure  a  horse,  said  by  one  of  his  col- 
leagues to  have  been  "the  finest  animal  ever  seen  in  Mexico,"  pursued 
his  journey  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  across  the  Gulf  to  Vera  Cruz. 
It  was  while  on  his  way  to  the  interior  that  an  afiair  occurred,  the  well- 
attested  facts  of  which  bring  back  the  romance  of  chivalry  as  a  reality. 

Dr.  Kane,  having  been  unable  to  procure  an  American  escort,  had 
intrusted  himself  to  a  Mexican  spy-company,  under  Colonel  Domiiignes, 
and  was  approaching  Nopaluca,  when  they  encountered  a  body  of 
contra-guerrillas,  escorting  Generals  Gaona  and  Torrejon,  with  other 
Mexican  officers.  A  short  and  severe  contest  ensued,  resulting  in  tho 
capture  of  most  of  the  Mexican  pai'ty.  During  the  fray,  the  doctor's 
charger  carried  him  between  young  Oolonel  Gaona  and  his  orderly, 
who  both  fell  upon  him  at  the  same  moment.  Receiving  only  a  slight 
flesh  hurt  from  the  lance  of  the  latter,  he  parried  the  sabre-cut  of  tho 
former  and  unhorsed  him  with  a  wound  in  the  chest.  Soon  afterwards 
ones  came  from  young  Gaona  to  save  his  father,  the  aged  general, 
■whom,  together  with  the  other  Mexican  prisoners,  the  renegade  Do- 
mingnes  and  his  bandits  were  about  to  butcher  in  cold  blood.  Dr. 
Kane  instantly  charged  among  them  with  his  six-shooter,  and  suc- 
ceeded at  length  in  enforcing  humanity  to  the  vanquished,  though  only 
after  himself  receiving  a  lance-thrust  in  the  abdomen  and  a  blow  wliich 
cost  him  the  loss  of  his  horse.  But  still  another  act  of  mercy  remained 
to  be  performed.  As  the  old  General  sat  beside  his  son,  who  was 
bleeding  to  death  from  his  wound,  the  doctor,  with  no  better  surgical 
implements  than  a  table-fork  and  a  piece  of  pack-thread,  succeeded  in 
taking  up  and  tying  the  artery,  and  thus  saving  the  life  which  he  had 
endangered. 

The  gratitude  of  the  rescued  ^^exicans  knew  no  bounds,  and  when  it 
was  found  that  their  deliverer  was  himself  sufi'ering  from  his  wounds, 
he  was  taken  by  General  Gaona  to  his  own  residence,  and  there  mirsed 
for  weeks  by  the  ladies  of  the  family,  with  every  attention  that  wealth 
and  refinement  could  suggest.  A  tissue  of  circumstantial  as  well  as 
personal  evidence  has  saved  the  chronicler  of  this  incident  the  risk  of 


LIFE    OF    I)U.     KANE. 


9 


..r 


sccniiiiG;  a  romancer.  Tlie  published  letters  wlik-li  passed  between  tho 
Ainciricaii  and  Mexican  stiver. lois  of  I'licbla  in  rcgar  1  to  Dr.  Kane, 
iiitcirliann'(!(l  his  praises;  and  uii  his  irtiirn  to  I'liiladclphia,  nidrctlian 
stni'iity  of  the  most  distin;;-uished  genllcmeii  of  the  city  united  in  pre- 
scMiting  him  with  a  sword,  as  a  memorial  of  "an  incidtMital  ex[)loit 
which  was  crowned  with  the  ilistinction  due  to  gallantry,  skill,  and 
success,  and  was  hallowed  in  tiic  Hush  of  victory  by  the  noblest  hu- 
manity to  the  van(]uislied." 

Alter  the  Mexican  war,  in  January,  1S40,  Dr.  Kane  was  attached  to 
the  storeship  Siipjdy,  Conunander  Arthur  Sinclair,  bound  for  Lisbon, 
the  Mediterranean,  and  Uio  Janeiro.  The  diseases  which  he  had  suc- 
cessively contracted  in  ('hina,  Kgypt,  Africa,  and  Mexico,  had  made  sad 
inroads  upon  his  health,  and  the  voyage,  though  without  much  of  in- 
cident, at  least  served  to  recruit  his  strength,  lie  was  next  assigned  to 
the  Ccnist  Survey,  and  had  settled  into  its  round  of  duty,  when  he  was 
suddenly  called  to  the  great  work  of  his  life. 

"On  the  12th  of  ^b'ly,''  he  writes,  "  while  bathing  in  the  tepid  waters 
of  the  (iulf  of  Mexico,  I  received  one  of  those  courteous  little  epistles 
from  Washington  whicli  the  electric  telegraph  has  made  so  familiar  to 
naval  officers.  It  detached  mc  from  the  coast-survey,  and  ordered  mo 
to  proceed  forthwith  to  New  York  for  duty  upon  the  Arctic  expedition." 
For  months  before,  the  civilized  world  hail  resounded  with  the  cry  to 
the  rescue  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  and  the  Goveriuucnt,  moving  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  whole  country,  had  resolved  upon  sending  in  search  of 
tho  lost  navigator  the  two  vessels,  the  "Advance"  and  "Rescue,"  under 
Conunander  Do  Ilavon.  Dr.  Kane,  who  had  repeatedly  volunteered 
his  services,  was  made  .senior  medical  officer  and  naturalist  of  tho  ex- 
pedition, and  on  his  return,  published  its  history  in  the  form  of  a  ""Per- 
sonal Narrative,"  collected  from  his  private  journals.  The  ci'uise  lasted 
during  sixteen  months,  but  resulted  in  little  more  than  the  discovery 
of  Sir  John  Franklin's  first  winter  quarters  and  tho  graves  of  three  of 
his  men. 

In  proceeding  to  organize  the  second  United  States  Grinncll  Expe- 
dition under  his  own  command.  Dr.  Kane  had  before  him  an  ol>ject 
worthy  of  his  matured  powers  and  noMcst  aims,  and  gave  himself  to 
the  task  with  tho  zeal  of  a  votary.  Dut  what  discouragements,  what 
disappointments,  and  what  difiicultics  entered  into  that  great  under- 
taking from  its  outset  to  its  close,  ran  be  but  partially  seen  through 
the  veil  of  delieatc  reserve  which  ho  has  thrown  over  them.  Some- 
thing, however,  may  be  learned  in  legard  to  them  from  another  source, 
and  upon  authority  as  competent  as  it  is  disinterested  and  liHuorable. 


ii 


10 


LIFE     OF     DU.     KANE. 


n 


Hi 
'1! 


'1 


Cnptaiii  Sliomrd  Osborne,  of  Ilcr  Majesty's  Navy,  in  a  paper  advoca- 
ting fuitlier  polar  exploration,  holds  the  following  language  : — 

"  It  is  only  fair  to  Dr.  Kane  to  say,  that  never  in  our  times  has  a 
navigator  entereil  the  ico  so  inditterently  prepared  for  n  Polar  winter. 
With  only  seventeen  followers,  two  of  them  mutineers,  without  a  steam- 
power  for  his  solitary  vessel,  without  proper  sledge-equipment,  without 
any  preserved  fresh  meat,  and  a  great  insufficiency  of  preserved  vege- 
tables, and  with  only  coals  enough  to  servo  for  twelve  months'  fuel,  the 
only  marvel  to  mo  is,  that  he  over  returned  to  relate  his  sufforino's. 
They  are  only  to  be  equaled  by  those  of  the  navigator  "James,"  in 
Hudson  I»ay,  two  centuries  earlier.  God  forbid  that  I  should  be 
thought  to  cast  one  reflection  xipon  those  warm-hearted  Americans  who 
came  nobly  forward  and  said,  "  We  too  will  aid  in  Arctic  enterprise  ;" 
but  the  fact  is  that  enthusiasm  and  high  courjxgc,  without  proper 
knowledge  and  equipment,  on  such  service,  infallibly  lead  to  the  suft'er- 
ing  which  Dr.  Kane's  followers  endured;  and  it  is  that  which  best 
explains  how  it  was,  that  whilst  our  sailors,  far  beyond  the  Esquimaux, 
waxed  fat  and  fastidious,  Kane's  poor  followers  had  to  eat  the  raw  flesh 
of  animals  to  avert  tlic  ravages  of  scurvy,  brought  on  by  a  poisonous 
dietary  of  salt  meat.  This  much  to  meet  the  objections  of  those  who 
point  to  Dr.  Kane's  thrilling  narrative  with  a  view  to  frighten  us  from 
Arctic  exploration  ;  and  I  may  add,  that  I  know  well  that  chivalrous 
man  never  penned  those  touching  episodes  to  frighten  men  from  high 
enterprise,  but  rather  to  caution  us  to  avoid  his  mistakes,  and  to  show 
us  how  nobly  the  worst  evils  may  bo  borne  when  the  cause  is  a  good 


one 


"* 


The  narrative  of  that  expedition  is  before  the  reader  in  this  volume. 
When  first  given  to  the  world,  it  excittnl  an  intense  interest  and  drew 
forth  universal  eulogy.  All  classes  were  penetrated  and  touched  by 
the  story  so  simply,  so  modestly,  so  eloquently  told.  Autograph  let- 
ters from  the  most  eminent  names  in  every  walk  of  life  were  written  in 
its  praise.  Medals  and  other  costly  testimonials  were  sent  by  the  Queen 
of  England,  by  different  Legislatures  in  our  own  country,  and  by  scien- 
tific associations  throughout  the  world.  The  mere  casual  notices  of 
the  press,  as  collected  by  his  friend  Mr.  Childs,  the  publisher,  fill  sev- 
eral albums  of  folio  size. 

But  the  recipient  of  those  nonors  was  not  destined  himself  long  to 
enjoy  them.  To  the  seeds  of  former  diseases  never  fully  eradicated, 
had  been  added  that  terrible  scourge  of  Arctic  life,  the  scurvy,  together 

*  Paper  on  the  Exploration  of  the  North  Polar  Rcjrion,  rend  before  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  Jan.  23d,  18G5,  by  Captain  Sherard  Osborne,  U.  N.,  C.  B. 


from 
alfons 
high 
show 
good 


Royal 
B. 


'  : 


'ii 


J 


LIFE     OF     nil.     KANE. 


u 


with  tlic  cxlinustinj^  litcniry  labors  iiu-idciit  to  tlic  piiblicaiioii  iif  tliis 
narrative,  liiitiri'iy  uiuU'restiiiiating  those  lahors  (uf  wliich  iiuleeJ  hut 
few  can  form  an  aiiciinate  conception,)  he  inul  been  quite  too  thoiij^ht- 
Icssof  tiie  claims  of  a  body  he  had  so  loii^  been  a(!custoined  to  subject 
to  his  purpose,  and  oidy  awoke  to  a  discovery  of  the  error  when  it  was 
too  late.  With  this  nielanelioly  conviction,  ho  announced  the  comple- 
tion of  the  work  to  a  friend  in  the  modest  and  touching  .sentence: — 
"The  book,  poor  as  it  is,  has  been  my  coflin." 

lie  left  the  country  for  Kuiiland  under  a  presentiment  that  lie  .should 
never  return.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life,  departure  was  shaded  with 
forcbodiu!^.  It  was  indeed  an  alarming  symi)toin  to  find  that  iron 
nerve  wh'w.h  hitherto  had  su^tained  him  under  shocks  apparently  not 
Ies.s  severe,  thus  begimdng  to  falter;  and  yet  even  then  the  great  pur- 
pose of  his  life  he  had  not  wholly  abandoned,  but,  in  spite  of  the  nio.st 
serious  entreaties,  was  already  projecting  another  Arctic  Expedition  of 
research  and  rescue.*  Before,  however,  he  could  make  known  his  plans, 
or  even  receive  the  honors  awaiting  him,  successive  and  more  virulent 
attacks  of  disease  obliged  him,  under  medical  advice,  to  seek  the  last 
resorts  of  the  invalid.  Attoudeu  by  his  faithfid  friend  Morton,  he 
sailed  for  Cuba,  where  he  was  joined  by  his  mother  and  two  of  his 
brothers,  and  devotedly  nursed  during  a  lingering  and  painful  illness, 
until  his  death  on  the  IGth  of  February,  1857. 

No  man  of  his  age  was  ever  more  proudly  and  tenderly  lamented. 
The  journey  with  his  remains  from  Havana  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence 
through  the  Western  States  to  Philadelphia,  became  but  one  long 
funeral  triumph,  with  the  learned,  the  noble,  and  the  good  mingling  in 
its  train.  State  and  civic  authorities,  literary,  scientific,  and  religious 
bodies,  followed  his  bier  from  city  to  city  with  lavish  shows  of  grief, 
until  at  length  the  national  ob.sequies  were  completed  in  the  Hall  of 
Independence,  in  the  church  of  his  childhood,  and  at  the  grave  of  his 
kindred. 

Dr.  Kane,  so  far  from  being  one  of  those  mere  personages  who  move 
in  a  halo  of  applause,  had  only  to  be  known  in  order  to  convert  the 
coldest  criticism  into  sympathy  with  the  popular  feeling.  Whatever 
faults  belonged  to  him — and  his  nature  was  too  rich  and  strong  to  bo 
without  them — yet  the  man  himself  was  fully  worthy  of  his  mission, 
and  had  been  actually  endowed  with  gifts  and  traits  quite  as  remark- 

*  The  particular  project  to  which  he  then  reverted  with  special  interest,  was  on© 
which  he  had  entertained  in  1852,  looking  to  a  combined  land  and  sea  expedition 
down  Mackenzie's  River,  and  through  Behring's  Straits.  See  Paper  on  Alaski, 
lately  read  by  his  brother  and  literarj'  executor,  General  T.  L.  Kane,  before  the 
American  Geographical  Society. 


12 


LIFE    OP    1)  II .     KANE. 


! 


al>Io  as  any  of  tlio  circutnstimces  wliieli  onnspirctl  to  make  him  nn  object 
of  siicli  general  adiuiiatioii. 

W'lifii  lit  Ills  prime,  lieftirc  disease  liad  Ix-'^mi  to  waste  liis  frame,  his 
personal  aitpi^araiiee  was  extremely  yoiitlil'ul  aiul  liandsonn;,  almost  to 
the  (le;free  of  ii  feminine  delieacy  of  form  and  feature,  with  an  air  of 
cleLcan<'e  and  fashiim,  stij^tjestivc  at  tirst  sinht  of  anylhinix  Imt  hardy 
exploits  and  j)liysieal  ondiiraiice.  Unt  as  his  eharacter  matured,  the 
lines  of  his  faci;  revealcil  tlu!  energy  and  pnr[ti>s(>  within.  'I'lierewas  a 
certain  yi;v.<r;/C('  wliieh  diverled  attrntinn  from  his  delieieiit  stature. 

Temperate  in  meat  and  drink,  he  had  none  of  the  small  vices  which 
deprave  the  body,  hnt  was  rather  in  danger  of  negleetinij;,  or  overtask- 
in<;  it,  by  tlu^  reckless  eneriry  with  which  he  subjected  it  to  his  behests. 
The  stinmhis  with  which  he  repairt'd  the  waste  of  mental  apj)lication 
was  natural  rather  than  artitieial.  lie  would  leave  the  nninuseri|>ts  of 
his  book,  to  seek  relaxation  in  a  midnight  ride  upon  his  favorite  stallion 
"Gaona,"  or  in  a  rapiil  walk  before  breakfast,  lie  was  a  splendid 
horseman  and  marksman.  In  the  excitements  of  the  chase  he  had  the 
keenest  relish,  and  yet  for  suffering  animal  creatures  often  showed  a 
tenderness  that  in  another  might  have  seemed  sentimental. 

Natural  scenery  and  objects  lie  surveyed  with  the  eye  of  an  artist  as 
well  as  that  of  trained  scientilic  observation.  His  journals  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  were  filled  with  sketches,  some  of  them  Hnished  juetiires, 
others  mere  pen-and-ink  outlines  with  verbal  notes.  "Could  they  be 
placed  before  the  publie,"  says  the  artist  who  illustrated  this  work, 
"they  would  add  still  further,  if  that  were  possible,  to  his  reputation 
as  an  Arctic  explorer." 

His  art'eetions  for  home  and  kindred  were  absolute  passions.  In  his 
love  for  liis  motlier  especially,  he  was  a  child  to  the  last.  His  imagin- 
ation strove  to  brighten  even  tin;  Arctic  waste  with  dear  and  familiar 
associations.  The  ice-bound  haibor  in  wliicli  he  was  imprisoned  was 
made  to  echo  with  names  ofteiest  heard  at  home.  lie  was  really 
prouder  to  call  a  new  land  or  river  after  one  of  his  own  kinsmen,  than 
to  christen  it  for  a  Washington  or  a  Tennyson  ;  and  the  sledge  in 
which  he  sought  the  object  of  a  world-wide  fame  was  most  precious  in 
his  eyes  as  a  memorial  of  his  brother  "Littln  Willie." 

His  lieart,  in<leed,  was  as  warm  as  it  was  i:<rge  and  noble.  No  ele- 
vation and  vastness  in  his  scliemes  of  philanthropy,  no  absorption  in 
their  pursuit,  and  no  reputation  gained  by  their  success,  ever  made  him 
insensible  to  the  cla'.ns  ot  the  hmnblest  upon  its  regards.  Throughout 
life  he  had  numerous  dependants  who  looked  to  him  for  relief  and 
maintenance,  and  at  every  step  he  performed  acts  of  kinchicss  with  an 


iii*iiW*IW> 


1,  I  r  E    O  F     D  i: .     K  A  N  R . 


18 


uiicalciiIatinfT  (generosity.  In  dik-  of  Ms  voyairi"*  lio  snvcd  tho  life  of 
an  iiit'iiiit  whoso  itiotlior  was  too  ill  to  iiiirsf  it,  by  liiinself  taking,' ciitiio 
cliar^o  of  till)  littli!  siiflorcr.  A  yomin;  orjiliaiicil  iiii«lslii|iiiian,  witli 
wlioni  ln^  rrail  tlic  Uilih^  ami  Siiakspca;  '  on  tin-  vi>yai;i!  to  lliazil,  wlicu 
fomiil  to  i>r  ilvin"  of  (.•onsimiution,  was  taki-n  Inmio  with  him  anil  ten- 
derly  imrscil  lintil  his  iK-ath  as  one  of  thi:  faniily.  It  woul.l  have  l.ccu 
straiiLjc  if  sui'h  allhiritt.  alVt'ction  ha  I  not  l>ccn.  in  soiiu"  instances,  lav- 
ished upon  an  nnworlhy  ohject,  as  when  a  youn<x  cniinil  whom  ho 
soll^•ht  to  reform  hy  hrin;;'inn'  him  unih-r  thi^  home  intluenccs,  was  sud- 
di'iiiv  ii'is-.in;f  with  some  vaiuaMt' jeweh'y.  Hnt  that  kniirlitly  iMmam^o 
and  simi>lieity  tinij;in<^  his  ardent  nature,  if  ev.  r  (|ui\utic  in  tin'  eyes  of 
the  iirudent,  could  never  havo  exposed  iiim  to  the  serious  mi^a]ipre- 
iieiisidii  of  any  hut  interior  souls. 

Tho  writer  of  tliis  skettdi,  as  tin;  cuhiiiist  at  the  <ilise(|uies  of  I)r. 
Kane,  jj;avo  an  oxpression  of  the  pui.'ii;  ostimato  whiidi  has  sinee  heeti 
onlv  confirmed  l>y  Iiis  more  intimate  knowiedi;e,  and  in'  can  not  now 
(h»  bolter  than  hero  to  reproduce  so  mucli  of  it  as  rehites  to  Iiis  moral 
traits  and  achievements.* 

"As  a  votary  of  srionco,  lie  will  indeed  receive  fitting;  tiihutes. 
There  will  not  ho  wantinj^  those  wdio  shall  do  justice  to  that  ardent 
thirst  for  truth,  which  in  him  amounted  to  one  of  the  controlling'  pas- 
sions; to  that  intellect  so  severe  in  induction,  yet  sauaeioiis  iu  conjec- 
ture ;  and  to  those  contrihutions,  .so  various  and  vahiai)le,  to  the  existing 
stock  of  human  knowlede'c.  I>ut  his  memory  will  not  he  cherished 
aloue  in  plulosophi(!  minds.  His  is  not  a  name  to  1h'  honoied  only 
within  the  privileged  circles  of  tho  learned.  There  is  for  him  another 
laurel,  iireener  oven  than  that  which  science  weaves  for  her  most  jiiftej 
sons,  lie  is  endeare(l  to  the  popular  heart  as  its  chosen  ideal  of  tho 
finest  sentiment  that  adorns  our  earthly  natui'o. 

"  I'hilanthropy,  considered  as  among  things  which  arc  lovely  and  of 
good  re|>ort,  is  the  flower  of  human  virtue.  Of  all  the  pas^il)ns  tluit 
havo  their  root  in  tho  soil  of  this  present  life,  there  is  none  which, 
■when  elevated  into  a  conscious  duty,  is  so  disinterested  and  pure.  In 
the  domestic  affections,  there  is  something  of  mere  blind  instinct;  in 
friendshi|),  there  is  the  limit  of  congeniality  ;  in  patriotism,  there  arc 
the  restrictions  of  local  attachment  and  national  antipathy;  but  in  that 
love  of  race  which  seeks  its  object  in  man  as  man,  of  whatever  kindred, 
creed,  or  clime,  earthly  morality  appears  divested  of  tho  last  dross  of 
selfishness,  and  challenges  our  highest  admiration  and  praise. 

*  See  Report  of  the  Joint  Committee  n])i)ointC'd  to  receive  tho  remains  and  con- 
duct tliL>  obsequies  of  liie  late  Elislia  Kent  Kane,  in  Dr.  Elder's  Biography.  Funeral 
Discourso  delivered  iu  tho  Second  Presbyterian  Church. 


14 


LIFE    OF    DR.     KANE. 


I  '■ 


"Provulcnce,  who  jroverns  the  world  by  ideas,  selects  the  fit  occasions 
and  men  for  their  illustration.  In  an  age  when  philanthropic  senti- 
ments, through  the  extension  of  Christianity  and  civilization,  are  on 
the  increase,  a  fit  occasion  for  their  display  is  otfered  in  the  perils  of  a 
bold  explorer,  for  whose  rescue  a  cry  of  anguished  affection  rings  in 
tlie  ears  of  the  nations ;  and  the  man  found  adequate  to  that  occasion 
is  he  whose  death  we  mourn. 

"  If  there  was  every  thing  congruous  in  the  scene  of  the  achieve- 
ment,— laid,  as  it  was,  in  those  distant  regions  where  the  lines  of  geog- 
raphy converge  beyond  all  the  local  distinctions  that  divide  and  sepa- 
rate man  from  his  fellow,  and  among  regions  of  cold  and  darkness,  and 
flisease  and  famine,  that  would  task  to  their  utmost  the  powers  of 
buman  endurance — not  less  suited  was  the  actor  who  was  to  enter  upon 
that  scene  and  enrich  the  world  with  such  a  lesson  of  heroic  benefi- 
cence. Himself  o{  a  country  estranged  from  that  of  the  imperiled 
explorers,  the  simple  act  of  assuming  the  task  of  their  rescue  was  a 
beautifid  tribute  to  the  sentinvjnt  of  national  amity ;  while,  as  his  war- 
rant for  undertaking  it,  he  seemed  wanting  in  no  single  qualification. 
To  a  scientific  education  and  the  experience  of  a  cosmopolite,  he  joined 
an  assemblage  of  nioral  qualities  so  rich  in  their  separate  excellence, 
and  so  rare  iu  their  combination,  that  it  is  ditiicult  to  effect  their 
analysis. 

"  Conspicuous  among  them  was  an  exalted,  yet  practical  benevolence. 
It  was  the  crowning  charm  of  his  character,  and  a  controlling  motive 
in  his  perilous  enterprise.  Other  promptings  indeed  there  were,  nei- 
ther suppressed,  nor  in  themselves  to  be  depreciated.  But  that  passion 
for  adventure,  that  love  of  science,  that  generous  ambition,  which  stim- 
ulated his  youthful  exploits,  appear  now  under  the  check  and  guidance 
of  a  still  nobler  impulse.  It  is  his  sympathy  with  the  lost  and  suffer- 
ing, and  the  duteous  convi(;tion  that  it  may  lie  in  his  power  to  liberate 
them  from  their  icy  dungeon,  which  thrill  his  heart  and  nerve  him  to 
his  hardy  task.  In  his  avowed  aim,  the  interests  of  geography  were  to 
be  subordinate  to  the  claims  of  humanity.  And  neither  the  entreaties 
of  affection,  nor  the  imperiling  of  a  fame,  which  to  a  less  earnest  spirit 
might  have  seemed  too  precious  to  hazard,  could  swerve  him  from  the 
generous  purpose. 

"  And  yet  tiiis  w.'is  not  a  benevolence  which  could  exhaust  itself  in  any 
mere  dazzling,  visionary  project.  It  was  as  practical  as  it  was  compre- 
hensive. It  could  descend  to  all  the  minutiic  of  personal  kindness,  and 
gracefully  disguise  itself  even  in  the  most  menial  offices.  When  de- 
feated iu  its  great  object,  and  forced  to  resign  the  proud  hope  of  a 


ii>---'.f.»>x.-.  .-^:L«t 


LIFE    OF    DK.     KANE. 


15 


pliilanthropist,  it  turns  to  lavish  itself  on  Lis  suflfering  comrades,  whom 
he  leads  almost  to  forget  the  commander  in  the  friend.  With  unselfish 
assiduity  and  cheerful  patience  he  devotes  himself  as  a  nurse  and  coun- 
sellor to  relieve  their  wants,  and  buoy  them  up  under  the  most  appall- 
ing misfortunes  ;  and,  in  those  still  darker  seasons,  when  the  expedition 
is  threatened  with  disorganization,  conquers  them,  not  less  hy  kindness 
than  by  address.  Does  a  party  withdraw  from  him  under  opposite 
counsels,  they  are  assured,  in  the  event  of  their  return,  of  a  "  brother's 
welcome."  Are  tidings  brought  him  that  a  portion  of  the  little  band 
arc  forced  to  halt,  he  knows  not  where  in  the  snowy  desert,  he  is  off 
through  the  midnight  cold  for  their  rescue,  and  finds  his  reward  in  the 
grateful  assurance,  "  They  knew  that  he  would  come."  In  sickness  ho 
tends  them  like  a  brother,  and  at  death  drops  a  tear  of  manly  sensi- 
bility on  their  graves.  Even  the  wretched  savages,  who  might  be  sup- 
posed to  have  forfeited  the  claim,  share  in  his  kindly  attentions  ;  and 
it  is  with  a  touch  of  true  human  feeling  that  he  parts  from  them  at  last, 
as  '  children  of  the  same  Creator.' 

"Then,  as  the  fitting  support  of  this  noble  quality,  there  was  also  an 
indomitable  energy.  It  was  the  iron  column,  around  wliose  capital  that 
delicate  lily-work  was  woven.  Ills  was  not  a  benevolence  which  must 
waste  itself  in  mere  sentiment,  for  want  of  a  power  of  endurance  ade- 
quate to  support  it  through  hardship  and  peril.  In  that  slight  physical 
frame,  suggestive  only  of  refined  culture  and  intellectual  grai'o,  tliere 
dwelt  a  sturdy  force  of  will,  which  no  combination  of  mat(M'iul  terrors 
seemed  to  appall,  and,  by  a  sort  of  magnetic  impulse,  suiijocted  all 
inferior  spirits  to  its  control.  It  was  the  calm  power  of  reason  and 
duty  asserting  their  superiority  over  mere  brute  courage,  and  compelling 
the  instinctive  homage  of  Herculean  strength  and  prowess. 

"  With  what  firm  yet  conscientious  resolve  does  he  quell  the  rising 
symptoms  of  rebellion  whicii  threaten  to  add  the  terrors  of  mutiny  to 
those  of  famine  and  disease!  And  all  through  that  stern  battle  with 
Nature  in  her  most  savage  haunts,  how  he  over  seems  to  turn  his  mild 
front  toward  her  frowning  face,  if  in  piteous  appealing,  yet  not  less  iu 
fixed  resignation  ! 

"But  while  in  that  character,  benevolence  appeared  supported  by 
energy  and  patience,  .so,  too,  was  it  equipped  with  a  most  mMrveloas 
tact.  He  brought  to  his  beneficent  task  not  merely  the  resources  of 
acquired  skill,  but  a  native  power  of  adapting  himself  to  enierijcncies, 
and  a  fi.'rtility  in  devising  expedients,  which  no  occasion  ever  seemed  to 
bafile.  Immured  in  a  dreadful  seclusion,  where  the  combined  terrors 
of  Nature  forced  him  into  all  the  closer  contact  with  the  passions  of 


Ii 


n 


i 


16 


LIFE     OF    DU.     KANE. 


man,  lie  not  only  rose,  by  Jiis  energy,  superior  to  tliern  both,  but,  by 
his  niiuiy  executive  talent,  converted  cacii  to  liis  ministry.  Even  the 
wild  inmates  of  that  icy  world,  from  the  mere  stupid  wonder  with 
which  at  first  they  regarded  his  imported  marvels  of  civilization,  wore,  at 
length,  forced  to  descend  to  a  genuine  re>pect  and  love,  as  they  saw  him 
compete  with  them  in  the  practice  of  their  own  rude,  stoical  virtues. 

"  To  such  more  sterling  tjuaiitics  were  joined  the  graces  of  an  atHuent 
cheerj'aliu'aa,  tliat  never  deserted  him  in  the  darkest  hours — a  delicate 
and  capricious  humor,  glancing  among  the  most  rugged  realities  like 
the  sunshine  upon  the  rocks — and,  above  all,  that  invariable  stamp 
of  true  greatness,  a  beautil'ul  modesti/,  ever  sufficiently  content  with 
itself  to  bo  above  the  necessity  of  j)rctension.  These  were  like  the 
ornanients  of  a  Grecian  building,  which,  though  they  mny  not  enter 
into  the  effect  of  the  outline,  are  found  to  impart  to  it,  the  more 
nearly  it  is  surveyed,  all  the  grace  and  finish  of  the  most  exquisite 
sculpture. 

"Anil  yet  strong  and  fair  as  were  the  proportions  of  that  character  in 
its  more  conspicuous  aspects,  we  should  still  have  been  disiippointed 
did  we  not  find  albeit  hidden  deep  beneath  them,  a  firm  basis  of  reli- 
(/ions  si'idiiiii'iit.  For  all  serious  and  thoughtful  minds  this  is  the  purest 
charm  of  those  graphic  volumes  in  which  he  has  recorded  the  story  of 
his  wonderfid  escapes  and  deliverances.  There  is  every  where  shining 
through  its  pages  a  chastened  spirit,  too  familiar  with  human  weakness 
to  overlook  a  Providence  in  his  trials,  and  too  conscious  of  human  in- 
signilicance  to  disdain  its  recognition.  Now,  in  his  lighter,  more  pen- 
sive moods,  we  see  it  rising,  on  the  wing  of  a  devout  fancy,  into  that 
regi(Mi  where  })icty  becomes  also  poetry : 

'  I  have  trodden  the  deck  and  the  floes,  when  the  life  of  earth  seemed 
suspended,  its  movements,  its  sounds,  its  colorings,  its  companionships; 
and  as  1  looked  on  the  radiant  hemisphere,  circling  above  me,  as  if 
rendering  worship  to  the  unseen  centre  of  light,  I  have  ejaculated  in 
hnniility  of  spirit,  'Lord,  what  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him?' 
And  then  I  have  thought  of  the  kindly  world  we  had  left,  with  its 
revolving  sunlight  and  shadow,  and  the  other  stars  that  gladden  it  in 
their  changes,  and  the  hearts  that  warmed  to  us  there,  till  I  lost  myself 
in  the  memories  of  those  who  are  not;  and  they  bore  me  back  to  the 
stars  again.' 

"Then,  in  graver  emergencies,  it  appears  as  a  habitual  resource,  to 
which  lie  has  come  in  conscious  dependence : 

'A  trust,  based  on  experience  as  well  as  on  promises,  buoyed  me  up 


LIFE. OF    DR.     KANE. 


11 


at  the  worst  of  times.  Call  it  fatalism,  as  yon  ignorantly  may,  tlicro 
is  that  in  the  story  of  every  eventful  life  which  teaches  the  inofHciency 
of  human  means,  and  the  present  control  of  a  Supreme  Agency.  See 
how  often  relief  has  coaio  at  the  moment  of  extremity,  in  forms 
strangely  unsought,  almost  at  the  time  unwelcome;  sec,  still  more,  how 
the  back  has  been  strengthened  to  its  increasing  burdens,  and  the  heart 
cheered  by  some  conscious  influence  of  an  unseen  Power.' 

"And,  at  length,  we  find  it  settling  into  that  assurance  which  belongs 
to  an  experienced  faith  and  hope  : — 

'  I  never  doubted  for  an  instant,  that  the  same  Providence  which 
had  guarded  us  through  the  long  darkness  of  winter  was  still  watching 
over  us  for  good,  and  that  it  was  jet  in  reserve  for  us — for  some  ;  I 
dared  not  hope  for  all — to  bear  back  the  tidings  of  our  rescue  to  a 
Christian  land.' 

"  We  hear  no  profane  oath  vaunted  from  that  little  ice-bound  islet  of 
human  life,  where  man  has  been  thrown  so  helplessly  into  the  hands  of 
God ;  but  rather  in  its  stead,  niurnuired  amid  Iho  wild  uproar  of  the 
storm,  the  daily  prayer,  '  Accept  our  thanks  and  restore  us  to  our 
homes.'  Let  us  believe  that  a  faith  which  supported  him  through  trials 
worse  than  death,  did  not  fail  him  when  death  itself  came. 

"  In  the  near  approach  of  that  last  moment,  he  was  trantpiil  and  com- 
posed. With  too  little  strength  cither  to  support  or  indicate  any  thiiif 
of  rapture,  he  was  yet  sufliciently  conscious  of  his  condition  to  per- 
form sonic  final  acts  befitting  the  solemn  einergenc}'.  In  refcrcnco  to 
those  who  had  deeply  injured  him,  he  enjoined  cordial  forgivrnos.  To 
each  of  the  watching  group  around  him,  his  hand  is  given  in  the  fond 
pressure  of  a  final  parting;  and  then,  as  if  sensible  that  his  ties  to  earth 
are  loosening,  he  seeks  consolation  from  the  requested  reading  of  such 
Scripture  sentences  as  had  been  the  favorite  theme  of  his  thouo'litful 
hours. 

"Now  he  hears  those  soothing  beatitudes  which  fell  from  the  lips  of 
the  Man  of  Sorrows  in  successive  benediction.  Then  he  will  have 
repeated  to  him  that  sweet,  sacred  pastoral — 

'The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd;  I  shall  not  want.  He  niaketh  me 
to  lie  down  in  green  pastures :  he  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters. 
Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will 
fear  no  evil;  for  Thou  art  with  me:  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff,  they  com- 
fort me.' 

"At  length  are  recited  the  consolatory  words  with  which  the  Saviour 
took  leave  of  his  weeping  disciples  : — 

'Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled :    ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  ia 


18 


LIFE    OF     DR.     KANE. 


me.  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions ;  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
•would  have  told  you.     I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.' 

"  And  at  last,  in  the  midst  of  this  comforting  recital,  he  is  seen  to 
expire — so  gently  that  the  reading  still  proceeds  some  moments  after 
other  watchers  have  become  aware  that  he  is  already  beyond  the  reach 
of  any  mortal  voice.  Thus,  in  charity  with  all  mankind,  and  with 
words  of  the  Redeemer  in  his  ear,  conveyed  by  tones  the  most  familiar 
and  beloved  on  earth,  his  spirit  passed  from  the  world  of  men." 

With  these  last  and  sublimest  lessons  of  his  life,  it  is  fitting  that 
this  sketch  should  close.  Let  every  American  youth,  who  reads  his 
story,  remember  that,  in  an  age  of  materialism  when  old  faiths  seem  to 
be  decaying,  he  illustrated,  as  no  man  ever  did  before,  the  spiritual  ele- 
ments of  our  nature,  and  the  entire  compatibility  of  deep  religious  con- 
viction, not  only  with  humane  cftbrts,  but  with  physical  researches  and 
with  earthly  toils,  successes,  and  honors.  He  will  not  indeed  have 
lived  in  vain  should  history  hereafter  rank  him  among  the  harbingers 
of  that  peaceful  era  when  charity  shall  become  heroic,  and  science  be 
reconciled  to  religion. 


S') 


ttmmm 


1i0^^ltfff?^\ 


.y  ' 


.i 


1. 1 


Kitj>>'u\'v,l  >v  S  V'.nti  cl-.i 


.nh    "'ii>i   '■  i>  ^.xK^.•^T  ,  '"A^ 


^/i.    /Z^J7>^^^^/^A. 


"s 


^y—  •^'Vj      T 


.      t.\. 


ixni^  '■iiHtt.ni  in  every  clirti  lion  tweiit-y-tlnvc-  at•g^*>-.> 
ar.f'  l;\v«r.»'";  <  iirht  ininntes  f.rou)  tlu^  Ncvfli  P'>lf^.  It 
r^jwinites  iV  Voith  Kriiri'l  i'rcrn  tlu-  Xortli  Teniju-i-at^ 
Z<>*>«'.     N'^  ^  f:<*  i'>»^-l<' li(!  Uj«' i\ri-:-r  Ocean;  nearly 

al]  'f-viii'^  -t'  ii'-i ;  ."'•uiti'/>>eru:cri,  Nov;*  Zernbla  nrid 
i'tiior  i--  -  r^'Jju'!!'    ponioiifj  'tf  Notway,  -SNveilci^ 

\vr^-!)«-rla.  .V)a.>ka,  and  Hn'i  i||i  Amerii.a  ;  ' 
.  ••     nnkiiown  iv«_rioiis    n<)n;h-w»ts:u;iiv    of 


a'i 


i.a.p] 
unt)  tlf>- 


nv.ev 


•v\ 


\^  ,v 


iVs  t'--^*i 


^r;  :!>f.  is  onclo-seii  I'Otwton  lii'''  ts 


A.. 


I  Ai 


-»*ia,  .■Mid   Aiiionca 


^  contnu'i! 


li 


<'\V   l!»i 


.'li 


I'hfi  n 


■i\  ijifo  it 


a'f 


il  I: 


;!■•    Hi 


'jca   ()L  uvor  toi.i' 


aci'. 


uii'l"^  iii! 


iV.I 


o   \Vitli   ;iM   If*! 


«;4'^-* 


:■>'! 


Mit   :  ijrve 


KHi^a 


<\  1 


,ia« 


a-  ceunir 


v  r 


»\N«   of  llu' 


\ivU\  '  ,  lav,''  Lt'lAvvt-n.  Iritiindes  'sui.t 


H'* 


<m 


deLri>;  '■<,  Uiiist  iu)1    Ik 


le  «M>ns)« 


l..r,.d 


latit 


I.     <-v'  ,;f  i}]^;  Arctic  l'(<!4i.)ii,s,  fur  "Jie  diit^ 

teij  5» '-i'^sro!<  and  t>1i< -<   iicna  of  lar  iiiiihfr 

"•xtt-'*    r.  i?h  some  exceptions  luau,  d-^w'j'ees 


1^.' 


.     T_3Ki.lC — .«*. 


i'i 


I 


ly. 


r  I, 


**■.■ 


,,,\ 


m. 


■^:^^ 


■.jgy 


■i^- 


i: 


ill 


^: 


/^4.-.#' 


\      ■■ 


.'  / 


X  .^ 


.v^ 


-^^ 


''./v;' 


iiy       ' 


'  CHAPTER  I. 
THE  ARCTIC  REGIONS. 

The  Arctic  Circle,  as  laid  ihnvn  on  our  maps,  is  a 
line  drawn  around  the  eartli,  parallel  Avith  the  ecpiator, 
and  distant  in  every  direction  twenty-three  degrees 
and  tw^enty-eight  minutes  from  the  Noi-th  Pole.  It 
separates  the  North  Frigid  from  the  North  Temperate 
Zone.  Within  this  circle  lie  the  Arctic  Ocean ;  nearly 
all  of  Greenland ;  Spitzhergen,  Nova  Zembla  and 
other  islands ;  northerly  portions  of  Norway,  Sweden, 
Lapland,  Russia,  Sil)eria,  Alaska,  and  British  America ;  '. 
and  the  almost  unkno^vn  I'egions  uorth-westerly  of 
Greenland. 

The  Arctic  Ocean  is  enclosed  Ijetween  the  northern 
limits  of  Europe,  Asia,  an<l  America.  Several  large 
rivers  from  the  three  continents  flow  northerly  into  it 
or  its  tributary  Avaters.  It  has  an  area  of  over  four 
million  S(piare  miles,  and  girds  the  Pole  Avitli  an  ice- 
locked  coast  of  about  three  thousand  leagues.  It  is  a 
mysterious  sea,  and  has  for  centuries  baffled  the  re- 
search of  navit2:ators. 

But  the  Arctic  Circle,  lying  between  latitudes  sixty- 
six  and  sixty-seven  degrees,  must  not  be  considered 
as  the  boundary  of  the  Arctic  Regions,  for  the  char- 
acteristic temj)eratures  and  ])henomena  of  far  higher 

latitudes  extend  with  some  exceptions  many  degrees 

19 


'■^ 


20 


THE   ARCTIC    KEtilONS. 


:'  I 


I 


111 


.! 


farther  to  the  Houth.  loeland,  Avhich  may  well  be 
considered  an  Arctic  country,  lies  outside  this  circle  ; 
and  the  researdies  of  the  lamented  Hall  durinjx  his 
first  ex])edition  were  made  considerably  helow  this 
line,  and  it  is  not  known  that  he  reached  muchhigher 
latitudes  durin*,'  his  later  residence  on  the  northern 
shores  of  Hudson's  Bay. 

AVithin  these  hyperborean  regions  Nature  is  marked 
by  the  most  stupendous  features,  and  the  forms  she 
assumes  differ  from  her  attitudes  in  our  milder  cli- 
mates almost  as  widely  as  if  they  belonged  to  another 
l^lanet.  The  scenery  is  aAvful  and  dreary,  }  et  abound- 
ing in  striking,  sublime,  and  beautiful  objects.  The 
sun  forseveral  monthsof  the  year  is  totally  withdrawn, 
leaving  behind  him  a  desert  waste  of  relentless  frost, 
and  the  darkness  of  a  prolonged  Avinter  which  broods 
over  the  frozen  realm,  save  when  the  mafcniiicent 
Aurora  lights  up  the  gloom,  or  the  moon,  which  for 
days  continually  circles  around  the  horizon,  reveals 
the  weird  beauty  and  desolation  of  the  scene. 

Dr.  Kane,  in  the  most  fascinating  narrative  of  his 
second  exi)edition  describes  an  Arctic  moonlight  night 
as  f  olloAvs  : — 

"  A  grander  scene  than  our  bay  by  moonlight  can 
hai'dly  be  conceived.  It  is  more  dream-like  and  super- 
natural than  a  coml  )ination  of  earthly  features. 

"The  moon  is  nearly  full,  and  the  dawnino;  sun- 
light,  mingling  with  hers,  invests  everything  with  an 
atmosphere  of  ashy  gray.  It  clothes  the  gnarled  hills 
that  make  the  liorizon  of  oiu*  Ija}',  shado^v■s  out  the 
terraces  in  dull  definition,  grows  darker  and  colder  as 
it  sinks  into  the  fiords,  and  broods  sad  and  dreary 
upon  the  ridges  and  measureless  plains  of  ice  that 
make  up  the  I'est  of  our  field  of  vieAV.     Rising   above 


THE   AIICTIC    IIEUIOXS. 


21 


all  tills,  and  sluuliug  down  into  it  in  strange  coniLlna- 
tion,  is  tlie  intense  nioonllglit,  glittering  on  every  ei-ag 
and  s])ire,  ti-ueing  tlie  outline  of  the  Inu-kground  m  ith 
contrasted  l)riglitness,an(l  j)rinting  its  fantastic  profiles 
on  the  snow-lield.  It  is  a  landscape  sudi  as  Milton  or 
Dante  might  imagine, — inorganic,  desolate,  mysterious. 
I  have  eonie  down  from  deck  with  the  feelings  of  a 
man  who  has  looked  upon  a  world  unfinished  l)y  the 
hand  of  its  Creator." 

At  length  the  sun  rea])i)ears  al)ove  the  horizon,  and 
as  a  com])ensation  for  his  long  absence  shines  \niinter- 
ruptedly  for  the  l)alance  of  the  year,  although  his 
rays  are  frec^uently  obscured  hy  mist  and  fog.  This 
continual  sunlight  strikes  the  traveler  as  the  strangest 
phenomenon  of  the  Arctic  sunnner. 

As  the  sun  accpiires  elevation,  liis  power  inci-eases. 
The  progress  of  the  frost  is  checked,  the  snow  grad- 
ually wastes  away,  the  ice  dissolves,  and  \ast  fi'ag- 
nients  of  it  are  })recipitated  along  the  shores  with  the 
crash  of  thunder.  The  ocean  is  now  unLound,  and 
its  icy  dome  disrui:)ted  with  tremendous  fracture; 
enormous  fields  of  ice  thus  set  afloat  are  broken  u{) 
by  the  violence  of  winds  and  currents,  or  drift  away 
to  the  south,  and  the  icebergs  take  up  their  stately 
march. 

The  annual  formation  of  ice  within  the  Arctic  %vorl(l 
is  a  beautiful  provision  of  Nature  for  mitigating  the 
excessive  ine(j[uality  of  temperature.  Were  only  dry 
land  there  ex])osed  to  the  sun,  it  would  be  absolutely 
scorched  by  his  incessant  beams  in  summer,  and 
pinched  in  the  darkness  of  winter  by  the  most  intense 
and  penetrating  cold.  None  of  the  animal  or  vegeta- 
ble trilies  could  at  all  support  such  extremes.  But  in 
the  actual  arrangement,  the  surplus  heat  of  summer 


i' 


:i: 


I 


;i, 


h 


!'i 


•  1 


'i  '< 


I  HI 


00 


THE   ARCTIC   REOIONS. 


is  spent  in  melting  away  the  ice ;  and  its  deficiency  in 
winter  isj  j)artly  supplied  l)y  the  infiuti.ce  of  the  ])ro- 
gress  of  congelation.  As  h)iig  as  ice  n  is  to  thaw 
or  water  to  freeze,  the  temperature  of  tne  atmosphere 
can  never  vaiy  heyond  certain  limits. 

For  what  is  known  of  the  Arctic  regions  tlie  world 
is  indebted,  principally,  to  the  exj)editionH  Avhicli,  from 
time  to  time,  have  heen  sent  out  l)ydift'erent  nations — 
some  to  search  for  new  routes  to  China  and  the  In- 
dies, some  to  look  for  the  North  Pole,  and  some,  in 
later  times,  for  the  relief  of  the  lost  navigator.  Sir 
John  Franklin. 

Tlie  thrilling  experiences  and  observations  of  many 
of  these  expeditions  have  l)een  written  '^nt  by  mem- 
bers thereof,  and  the  penisal  of  their  i  tives  Avill 
give  the  reader  a  more  vivid  and  far  i..  ^  interest- 
ing conception  of  life  and  nature  in  the  frigid  zone 
than  can  be  obtained  from  the  study  of  volumes  of 
didactic  description.  As  it  is  the  i)lan  of  this  book 
to  give  the  history  of  these  expeditions,  and  t)  do  it 
to  some  extent  in  the  words  of  the  explorers  them- 
selves, full  inf onnation  as  to  the  characteristic  leatures, 
phenomena,  inhabitants,  and  animal  and  vegetable 
life  of  the  Arctic  regions  will  be  found  in  succeeding 
chapters. 


'  n\ 


L*«=4; 


I 


CHAPTER  II. 


EARLY  DISCOVERIES  AND  HISTORY. 

One  thousand  years  ago  the  mariners  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian Peninsula  were  the  b(jldest  of  navigators,  and 
the  most  successful  ones  of  their  age.  They  possessed 
neither  the  sextant  nor  the  compass  ;  they  had  neither 
charts  nor  chronometers  to  guide  them  ;  but  trusting 
solely  to  fortune  q,nd  their  own  indomitable  courage, 
they  fearlessly  launched  foilh  into  the  vast  ocean. 
Their  voyages,  distinguished  by  a  strange  mixture  of 
commerce,  piracy,  and  discovery,  added  no  little  to  the 
geographical  knowledge  of  their  day.  To  quit  their 
bleak  regions  in  seai'ch  of  others  still  m<M'e  Ijleak 
would  have  been  wholly  foreign  to  their  views ;  yet 
as  the  sea  was  covered  with  their  sails,  chance  and 
tempest  sometimes  drove  them  in  a  direction  other 
than  southerly. 

In  the  year  801,  Naddodr,  a  Norwegian  pirate,  was 
drifted  by  contrary  winds  far  to  the  north.  For  sev- 
eral days  no  land  was  visible;  then  suddenly  the 
snow-clad  mountains  of  Iceland  Avere  seen  to  rise  above 
the  mists  of  the  ocean.  The  viking  landed  on  the 
island,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Snowland,  but  dis- 
covered no  traces  of  man.  Three  years  afterward, 
Gardar  and  Flocke,  two  Swedes,  visited  it ;  and  hav- 
ing found  a  great  quantity  of  drift-ice  collected  on  the 


9; 


ir ! 


24 


ICELAND. 


nortli  side  of  it,  they  gave  it  the  name  of  Icelaud, 
whi'.;h  it  still  hears.  In  874,  Ingolf  and  Leif,  two 
famous  Norwegian  adventurers,  carried  a  colony  to 
tliis  inhos])ital)le  region — the  latter  liaving  eniicbed 
it  \vith  the  booty  which  he  ravaged  from  England. 

Al)()ut  this  time  Harold,  the  Fair-haired,  had  l)e- 
come  the  despotic  master  of  all  Norway.  ]Many  of 
his  former  equals  submitted  to  his  yolce ;  Imt  others, 
animated  hy  a  love  of  lil)erty,  emigrated  to  Iceland. 
Such  were  the  attractions  ^vhich  the  island  at  that 
time  presented,  that  not  half  a  century  ela})sed  l)efore 
all  its  iuhal)ital)le  portions  wei'e  occupied  l)y  settlers 
from  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land. 

Iceland  might  as  well  have  T)een  called  Fireland, 
for  all  of  its  forty  thousand  scpiare  miles  have  origin- 
ally heen  upheaved  from  the  depths  of  the  ^\^aters 
by  volcanic  action ;  and  its  numerous  volcanoes  have 
many  times  brought  ruin  upon  whole  districts.  The 
most  frightful  visitation  occurred  in  1788,  and  its 
direful  eflt'ects  were  lonsr  felt  througi-hout  the  island, 
ovei'  which,  for  a  whole  year,  hung  a  dull  canoj)y  of 
cinder-laden  clouds. 

Pestilence,  famine,  and  severe  winters  have  also 
from  time  to  time  added  many  a  moiu'nful  page^'to 
IcelaiKl's  long  aimals  of  sorrow.  Once  she  had  over 
a  hundred  thousand  inha))itants, — now  she  has  scai'cely 
half  that  nund)er;  then  she  had  many  rich  and  powei-- 
ful  families, — now  mediocrity  or  poverty  is  the  universal 
lot ;  then  she  was  renowned  as  the  seat  of  learning  and 
the  cradle  of  literature, — noAV,  were  it  not  for  her 
remarkable  j)hysical  features,  no  traveler  would  ever 
think  of  landini;  on  her  ruirged  shores. 

In  winter,  when  an  almost  pei-petual  night  covers 


I 


also 


!i 


'r'  ■ 


I 


I  -' 


I 


GREENLAND. 


27 


tlie  wastes  of  tliis  fire-boi-n  laiul,  and  the  waves  of  a 
stormy  ocean  tliunder  against  its  sliores,  imagination 
can  liardly  picture  a  more  desolate  scene;  l)iit  in  sum- 
mer the  ru'Tired  nature  of  Icehuid  invests  itself  with 
many  a  charm.  Then  the  eye  reposes  with  delight 
on  green  valleys  and  crjstal  lakes,  on  the  purple  hills 
or  snow-capped  mountains  rising  in  vVlpine  grandeur 
a1)ove  the  distant  horizon,  and  the  stranger  might 
almost  1)6  tempted  to  exclaim  with  her  patri(^tic  chil- 
dren, "  Iceland  is  the  fairest  land  under  the  sun." 

The  colonization  of  Iceland  proved  the  stepping- 
stone  to  further  discoveries,  although  over  a  century 
elapsed  hefore  any  progress  was  made  in  a  westerly 
direction ;  then,  070,  an  Icelander  named  Gunnbjorn, 
first  saw  the  hifrh  mountain  coast  of  Greenland. 

Soon  aftcr\vards,  a  Norwegian  named  Thorwald, 
^vitli  his  son,  the  famous  Eric  the  Ked,  flying  their 
country  on  account  of  homicide,  took  refuuie  in  Iceland. 
Here  Tlior\A'ald  died,  and  Eric,  his  hands  again  imhued 
Avith  blood,  was  obliged,  in  0^2,  to  once  more  take 
refuge  on  the  high  seas.  lie  sailed  Avestward  in  quest 
of  the  land  discovered  by  Gunnbjorn,  and  ere  long 
reached  its  sliores.  Having  entered  a  spacious. creek, 
lie  spent  the  winter  on  a  pleasant  adjacent  island.  In 
the  following  season,  pursuing  his  discoveries,  he  ex- 
plored the  continent,  and  Avas  delighted  with  the 
freshness  and  verdure  of  its  coast. 

Eric  afterwards  ivturned  to  Ic'dand.,  and  l)y  his  in- 
viting description  of  the  new  country,  Avhich  he  named 
Greenland,  induced  fn'eat  numbers  to  sail  with  him 
and  settle  there.  They  started  in  085,  Avitli  twenty- 
five  vessels,  but  on  account  of  foul  Aveather  only  four- 
teen  of  them  reached  the  destined  harbor.  Other 
emigrants  soon  followed,  and  in  a  fcAv  }ears  all  of 


28 


THE    NORTHMEN    IN    AMERICA. 


•ii    ^■■ 


SoutLern    Greenland    was   occupied    by  flouiisliiiig 
colonies. 

An  adventurous  young  Icelander  named  Biarni, 
who  was  in  Norway  when  Eric's  colonists  sailed  for 
Greenland,  on  returning  home  and  finding  that  his 
father  had  gone  Avith  them,  vowed  that  he  would 
spend  the  winter  with  his  father,  as  he  had  ahvays 
done,  and  set  foi-th  to  find  the  little  settlement  on  the 
unknown  shores  of  Greenland. 

A  northerly  gale  sprung  up  and  for  many  days  he 
was  driven  to  the  soutliAvard  of  liis  course.  At  last 
he  fell  in  with  a  coast  in  tlie  west,  wooded  and  some- 
what hilly.  No  landing  was  made,  and  the  anxious 
mariners,  sailing  for  two  days  to  the  northward,  found 
another  land,  low  and  level,  and  overgroAvn  with 
woods.  Not  recosxnizinc:  the  mountains  nor  meetinjj 
with  icebergs,  Biarni  sailed  northerly,  and  in  three 
days  came  upon  a  great  island  Avitli  high  mountains, 
much  ice,  and  desolate  shores.  lie  was  then  driven 
before  a  violent  south-west  wind  for  four  days,  "when 
by  singular  good  fortune  he  reached  the  Greenland 
settlement  which  he  was  seeking. 

From  the  internal  evidence  afforded  by  the  dates 
and  the  causes,  as  well  as  from  the  corroboration  of 
subsequent  expeditions,  it  would  appear  that  these 
mariners  })rought  up  on  the  coast  of  New  England. 
The  first  land  seen,  judging  from  the  descriptions, 
was  probably  Nantucket  or  Cape  Cod.  Two  days' 
sailing  would  easily  luring  them  to  the  level  and  forest- 
covered  shores  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  three  more  to  the 
bleak  and  precipitous  coast  of  Ne\Arfoundland.  From 
that  island  to  the  southern  extremity  of  Greenland, 
the  distance  is  but  six  hundred  miles,  which  a  vessel, 
running  before  a  favorable  gale,  might  readily  accom- 
plish Avithin  the  given  time. 


THE   NOKTIIMEN   IN    AMERICA. 


29 


In  the  year  990,  Leif,  a  son  of  Eric,  having  visited 
the  coast  of  Norway,  waH  induced,  by  the  zeahius  and 
earnest  solicitation  of  King  Ohif  Tryggvason,  to  em- 
brace the  Christian  faith  ;  and,  carrying  with  him  some 
monks,  he  fonnd,  through  their  ministry,  no  great 
difficulty  in  persuading  liis  father  and  the  rest  of  the 
settlers  to  forsake  the  rites  of  Paganism.  Having 
heard  Biarni  nuich  blamed  at  Norway  for  neglecting 
to  prosecute  his  disct)veries,  Leif  was  stimulated  to 
undertake  a  voyage  in  quest  of  new  lands,  lie  Thought 
the  vessel  of  Biarni,  and  with  thiiiy-five  men,  some 
of  whom  had  been  on  the  former  voyage,  set  sail  in 
the  year  1000. 

Probably  the  first  lands  sighted  by  him  were  the 
same  as  those  which  Biarni  had  already  discovered, 
but  they  were  now  taken  in  an  inverse  order.  Hav- 
ing steered  to  the  west^vard  of  an  island  (probably 
Nantucket)  the  voyagers  "passed  up  a  river  and 
thence  into  a  lake."  This  channel,  it  would  seem,  was 
the  Seaconnet  Eiver,  the  eastern  outlet  of  Narragan- 
sett  Bay,  which  leads  to  the  l)eautif ul  lake-like  expanse 
now  known  as  Mount  Hope  Bay.  From  the  great 
number  of  wild  grapes  foimd  here  the  whole  country 
received  the  name  of  Vinland. 

Numerous  other  voyages,  according  to  Icelandic 
manuscripts,  were  made  from  Greenland  and  Iceland 
to  the  shores  of  Vinland.  To-day  inscriptions  are 
found  which  were  perhaps  the  handiwork  of  these 
adventurers ;  but  the  discoveries  they  made  appear  to 
have  been  forgotten  like  the  Greenland  colonists,  and 
it  has  not  been  imcommon  for  modem  students  to 
doul)t  the  whole  story  of  the  discovery  of  America  by 
the  Northmen.  Many,  however  believe  in  it,  and 
some  propose  to  celebrate  our  centennial  anniversary 


80 


TIIK    LOST    COLONISTS. 


l>y  erecting  in  Mmlison,  Wis.,  a  monument  to  tlie 
Vikinjjr  who  first  discovered  America. 

In  1477  Columlms  visited  Iceliind,  and  voyapjed  a 
liiindred  leagues  beyond  it,  ])rol)al>ly  to  the  westward, 
and,  it  may  be,  came  near  reviving  tlie  ancient  discov- 
eries of  the  Northmen,  and  tracking  tlie  stejts  of  Bi 
arni,  Leif,  and  Thoi-finn  to  the  long  lost  Vinland. 

The  original  settlement  of  Greenland  becran  about 
the  southern  i)romontor3',  near  Cape  Fare^vell,  and 
stretched  along  the  coast  in  a  north-westerly  direction. 
Farther  north,  and  proliably  extending  as  high  as  the 
latitude  of  sixty-six  degrees,  was  a  second  settlement. 
The  former  is  said  to  have  included,  at  its  most  iiour- 
isliing  period,  twelve  parishes  and  two  convents ;  the 
latter  contained  four  pai'ishes.  Between  the  two  dis-. 
tricts  lay  an  uninhabitable  region  of  seventy  miles 
The  whole  population  was  about  six  tlumsand.  For 
some  centuries  a  commercial  intci'course  Ava.s  main- 
tained with  Norway  ;  Init  the  trade  Avas  sul)ser|uentl3' 
seized  as  an  exclusive  privilege  of  the  Danish  court. 

The  colonists  of  (Ireenland  led  a  life  of  hardship 
and  severe  privations.  They  dwelt  in  hovels  sur- 
rounded by  moimtains  of  j^erpetual  ice ;  they  never 
tasted  1)read,  but  subsisted  on  the  fish  which  tliev 
caught,  joined  to  a  little  milk  obtained  from  their 
starving  cows ;  and,  Avitli  seal-skins  and  the  tusks  of 
the  walrus,  they  purchased  from  the  traders  who  occa- 
sionally visited  them,  tlie  wood  required  for  fuel  and 
the  construction  of  their  huts. 

About  the  year  173G,  the  natives  of  the  country,  or 
Esquimaux,  whom  the  Nor-vvegian  settlers  had  in  con- 
tempt called  Dwarfs,  attacked  the  colonies.  The 
scanty  population  Avas  enfeel)led  by  repeated  alarms ; 
and  that  dreadful  pestilence,  termed  the  Black  Deatliy 


Til  KIR   8Urrt«ED     FATJJ. 


8i 


Avliicli  ragod  over  Kuroi)^  from  the  yenr  1402  to  1404, 
nt  lust  extended  its  ravnges  to  Greenland,  and  nearly 
conijileted  the  (h'stniction. 

In  141S  a  hostile  fleet,  susi)eeted  to  ])e  English,  laid 
Avaste  the  eounti'v.  Politieal  troubles  and  wars  in 
Scandinavia  at  a  later  date,  caused  Greenland  to  he 
neglected,  and  finally  foi'gotten ;  and  it  is  believed 
that  its  last  colonists  either  retreated  to  Iceland  or 
■were  destroyed  hy  the  Ks(|uiniaiix  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  sixteenth  century. 

In  ir)Sl  and  KIO"),  expeditions  were  sent  out  from 
Denmark  to  see  if  any  inhabitants  of  Norse  origin 
still  dwelt  in  Greenland;  but  none  could  be  found, 
although  traces  of  the  ancient  settlement  were  seen 
on  the  western  coast. 

An  idea  formerly  prevailed  that  a  colony  had  also 
been  planted  on  the  ejust  side  of  Greenland,  which 
liad  been  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  -woi'ld  by  vast 
bai'riers  of  ice  accumulating  on  the  shore.  The 
problem  w\as,  whether  the  ill-fated  ])eople  had  survived 
the  catasti-oj)he,  or  been  entombed  in  snow  and  ice, 
as  the  unhapi)y  citizens  of  Pompeii  were  involved  in 
a  shower  of  volcanic  ashes.  Shi])s  were  sent  out  at 
different  times  by  Denmark  for  their  relief,  but  it  is 
now  evident  that  no  such  settlement  ever  existed. 
The  coast  of  Eastern  Greenland  is  everywhere  bold 
and  rocky,  and  the  interior  of  the  coimtry  consists  of 
clusters  of  mountains  covered  with  eternal  snows. 

In  1721,  Hans  Egede,  a  Norwegian  pastor,  who  had 
long  felt  the  deepest  concern  for  the  descendants  of 
the  old  Christian  communities  of  Greenland,  in  Avhose 
total  destruction  he  could  not  believe,  sailed  from 
Bergen  Avitli  his  wife,  foiu'  children,  and  forty  colonists, 
having  resolved  to  become  the  apostle  of   regenera- 


82 


TIIK    Al'OSTLI':    OF    (iUKKNLAM). 


ted  (Jreenlniid.  They  Ijindcd  .July  'Ad,  and  hoou  erect- 
ed 11  wooden  {Impel  jit  the  location  of  the  i)re.sent  set- 
tlement of  (lodthad. 

Although  Kgede  met  with  severe  trials,  and  was 
deserteil  l)y  nearly  all  the  settlers,  lie  jjersevered  in 
sustaining;  his  foothold  in  the  country;  and  in  1  T.'KJ 
the  kingof  Dennnirk  l)est(»wedon  the  nnssionan  annual 
grant  of  two  thousand  dollars,  and  sent  three  Moravian 
brothel's  to  assist  him. 


E<j;('de  I'cturned  to  Norway  in  IT.')."*;  duringhisl 


on<r 


stay  in  (rreenland  he  could  find  nothing  in  the  j)hysi. 
ognomy  or  language  of  the  Ks(]^uimaux  M'hich  ])ointed 
to  an  Eiiropcan  oi-igin. 

T)i'.  Kane  visited  this  locality  in  185.%  an<l  s])eaks 
of  it  as  follows:— 

"While  we  were  heating  out  of  the  fiord  of  Fiskcr- 
iiaes,  I  had  an  oi>poi'tuiiity  of  visiting  Lichtenfels,  the 
ancient  seat  of  the  (ireeidand  congregations,  and  onv. 
of  the  three  ^[oravian  settlements.  J  had  read  much 
of  the  history  of  its  founders  ;  and  it  ^\  as  with  feelings 
almost  of  devotion,  that  I  drew^  near  the  scene  their 
lahoi's  had  consecrated. 

"As  Ave  rowed  into  the  shadow  of  its  rock-emhayed 
cove,  every  thing  was  so  desolate  and  still,  that  Ave  might 
have  fancied  ourselves  outside  t^'      \\  ■     ^  of  life;  even 


the  dogs — those  querulous 
the  rest  of  the  coast 


P 


itl 


I'esentlv,  a  suddei 


ddt 


,'ing  sentinels  of 
gn.       t*  our  ai)proach. 


ii'ii 


lid 


projectini 


•litf 


brought  into  view^  a  tjnaint  old  Silesiaii  mansion,  bris- 
tling with  irregularly-disj)os'  1  I'himneys,  its  black  over- 
lian<2:in«j:    roof    studded    Avith    dormer   wind«  and 

crowned  with  an  anti(pie  belfry. 

"We  were  met,  as  we  landed,  by  a  coup'      'I'  grave 
ancient  men  in  sable  jackets  and  close  vel        skull- 


y 


KIHKEKNAKS— llOMK   OK   IIAN8  CliniSTIAN. 


le 
me 
ucli 

1<''S 

leii' 


yed 
gilt 
veil 
sof 
u-li. 

•liti: 

|)i'if^- 
ver- 
mid 

live 
all- 


MORAVIAN    SETTLKMKNT   AT   HCHTKNrKLS. 


1^ 


r  ", 


%' 


Ij 


THE   MORAVIAN    MISSIONS. 


35 


caps,  such  as  Vandyke  or  Reinbrandt  himself  might 
have  painted,  who  gave  us  a  (luiet  but  kindly  A\elcome. 
All  inside  of  the  mansion-house — the- furniture,  the 
matron  even  the  children — had  the  same  time-sobered 
look.  The  sanded  floor  was  dried  by  one  of  those  huge 
white-tiled  stoves,  which  have  been  known  for  gene- 
rations in  the  north  of  Euro])e  ;  and  the  stiff-backed 
chairs  were  evidently  coeval  with  the  first  days  of  the 
settlement.  The  heavy-built  table  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  was  soon  covered  with  its  simple  offei'iiigs  of 
liospitality;  and  we  sat  around  to  talk  of  the  lands  we 
had  come  from  and  the  changing  wonders  of  tlic  times. 

"  We  learned  that  the  house  dated  back  as  far  as 
the  days  of  Matthew  Stach ;  built,  no  doubt,  with  the 
beams  that  floated  so  ])rovi(lentially  to  the  shore  some 
t\venty-five  years  after  the  first  landing  of  Egede ;  and 
that  it  had  been  the  home  of  the  lu'ethren  anIio  no^v 
greeted  us,  one  for  t^venty-nine  and  the  other  tAventy- 
seven  years.  The  "  Congregation  Hall  "  was  Avithiu 
the  building,  cheerless  now  with  its  empty  benches;  a 
couple  of  French  horns,  all  that  I  could  associate  with 
the  gladsome  jnety  of  the  Moravians,  hung  on  each  side 
the  altar.  Two  dwelling-rooms,  tliree  cliambcrs,  and 
a  kitchen,  all  under  the  same  roof,  made  u])  the  one 
structure  of  Lichtenfels. 

"Its  kind-hearted  innnites  were  not  without  intelli- 
gence and  education.  In  s[)ite  of  the  formal  cut  of 
their  dress,  and  somethino;  of  tlie  stiffness  that  belomrs 
to  a  ])rotracted  solitary  life,  it  was  imp()ssil)le  not  to 
recoo;nise,  in  their  demeanor  and  course  of  tliou"'ht, 
the  liberal  spii-it  that  has  always  characterized  their 
church.  Two  of  their  "  children,"  they  said,  had  "  g(me 
to  God  "last  year  with  the  scurvy;  yet  they  hesitated 
at  receiving  a  scanty  sui)i)ly  of  i)otatoes  as  a  present 
from  our  store." 


w 


i 


i 


it 


11 


3G 


ESQUIJIAUX    OF    XORTII    GREENLAND. 


The  Danish  colonies  now  in  Greenland  are  scattered 
along  some  eight  hundred  miles  of  the  Avestern  coast, 
and  are  more  flourishing  tlian  the  ancient  settlements. 
The  European  population  is  only  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty — all  in  the  service  of  the  Danish  company 
excei^ting  the  missionaries — while  the  native  Esqui- 
maux of  the  district,  among  whom  they  live  on  good 
terms,  are  estimated  at  aljout  nine  thousand. 

Farther  north,  and  cut  off  from  civilization  and  their 
more  favored  Ijrothers  of  the  Danish  neis-hhorlioods 
by  imjiassaLle  glaciers,  are  other  Escpiimaux — nomads, 
Avho  range  over  a  narroAV  l)elt  extending  along  the 
coast  for  six  hundred  miles.  Tliey  were  the  neighl)ors 
of  Dr.  Kane  during  liis  two  winter^'  imprisonment  in 
Rensselaer  Harbor.  In  his  "  Arctic  Exjdorations,"  Dr. 
Kane  pays  an  affecting  tril)ute  to  their  virtues  and 
draAvs  gh)omy  auguries  of  their  future : — 

"It  is  Avith  a  feeling  of  melancholy  that  I  recall  these 
familiar  names.  They  illustrate  the  trials  and  modes 
of  life  of  a  sim])le-min(led  people,  for  Avhom  it  seems  to 
be  decreed  that  the  year  must  very  soon  cease  to  renew 
its  changes.  It  ])ains  me  when  I  think  of  their  ap- 
proaching destin}', — in  the  region  of  night  and  Avinter, 
Avhere  the  earth  yields  no  fruit  and  the  waters  are 
locked, —  without  the  resorts  of  skill  or  even  the  rude 
materials  of  art,  and  walled  in  from  the  world  by 
barriers  of  ice  Avithout  an  outlet. 

"  If  you  point  to  the  east,  inland,  Avhere  the  herds  of 
reindeer  run  OA'er  the  barren  hills  unmolested, — for 
tliey  have  no  means  of  captui'ing  tliem, — they  Avill  cry 
"  Sermik,"  "glacier;"  and,  question  them  as  you  may 
about  tlie  range  of  their  nation  to  the  north  and  south, 
the  answer  is  still  the  same,  A\ith  a  shake  of  the  head, 
"Sermik,  sermik-soak,"  "the  great  ice-Avall;"  there  is 
no  more  beyond. 


..^"■- 


THE   OABOTS   AND   TIIEIR   VOYAGES. 


37 


"  They  have  no  "  kresuk,"  no  wood.  The  drift-tim- 
ber which  blesses  their  more  southern  brethren  never 
reaches  them.  The  bow  and  arrow  are  therefore  un- 
known ;  and  the  kayak,  the  national  implement  of  the 
Oreenlander,  which,  like  the  palm-tree  to  the  natives 
of  the  tropics,  ministers  to  almost  eveiy  want,  exists 
among  them  only  as  a  legendary  word." 

Though  a  long  intercourse  with  Europeans  has 
somewhat  modified  the  character  of  the  Southern 
Greenlanders,  and  acquainted  them  with  some  of  the 
luxuries  of  civilization,  they  still  retain  to  a  great  de- 
gree their  former  customs  and  modes  of  life.  This  is 
probably  owing  to  the  sparse  population,  and  their 
vagrant  life.  Depending  wholly  upon  the  products 
of  the  chase  for  their  food,  they  are  most  accom- 
plished hunters ;  and  the  sea  is  the  principal  source  of 
their  sustenance. 

England   narrowly  missed   sharing   in  the  honor 

awarded  to  Columbus   for  his   great    achievement. 

After  vainly  soliciting  Sf>ain  and  Poiiugal  for  aid, 

that  navigator  sent  his  brother  to  Henry  VII.,  with 

proi^ositions  which  were  at  once  accepted  ;  but  before 

the  return  of  his   messenger,  Columbus,  under  the 

auspices  of  Isabella,  had  started  on  his  voyage.     The 

news  of  his  success  excited  much  interest  in  England ; 

and  the  king  granted  to  John  Cabot  and  his  three 

sons,  a  patent  "to  sail  to  all  parts,  countries,  and  seas," 

at  their  own  expense,  as  explorers.     Cabot  was  an 

Italian,  once  a   "  Merchant  of  Venice,"  then  livino- 

m  Bristol,  England,  where  his  son  Sebastian  was  born 

about  1477.     A  subsequent  residence  in  Venice  had 

given  the  son  a  taste  for  maritime  enterprises,  which 

was  increased  by  his  learning  the  trade  of  making 

maps. 

3 


t'li 


ii 


!  ;  i  f 


t : 


I 

!  i 


i! 


38 


THE   LABR^UJOR   COLOIfY. 


The  explorers,  in  a  sliip  named  the  "  Matthew," 
fitted  out  probably  at  the  expense  of  the  Cabots,  sailed 
from  Bristol  in  May,  1497.  Sebastian,  though  only 
nineteen  years  of  age,  was  entrusted  with  the  com- 
mand, but  was  accompanied  by  his  father. 

On  the  24tli  of  June,  they  beheld  portions  of  the 
coast  of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  stretched  out 
before  them.  This  discovery  of  a  continent  (fourteen 
months  l)efore  Columbus  discovered  the  main  land) 
caused  the  explorers  little  exultation,  although  the 
British  claim  to  the  thirteen  colonies  was  primarily 
based  thei'eon.  The  object  of  the  voyage  was  to  dis- 
cover a  passage  to  India ;  and  to  be  obstiTicted  by  land 
displeased  the  mariners.  Entering  one  of  the  chan- 
nels leading  into  Hudson's  Bay,  they  continued  on 
for  several  days,  when  the  crew  became  despondent 
and  insisted  on  returning.  Cabot  yielded  to  their 
clamors  and  sailed  for  England. 

In  the  SjDring  of  1498,  Sebastian,  with  three  hun- 
dred men,  again  set  sail  for  the  region  he  had  discov- 
ti*ed.  These  unfortunate  people  he  landed  on  the 
bleak  and  inhospitable  coast  of  Labrador,  that  they 
might  form  a  settlement  there,  and  then  with  the 
squadron  renewed  his  search  for  the  North-west  pas- 
sage. On  his  return  to  the  station,  he  found  that  the 
settlers  had  suffered  intensely  from  cold  and  exposure. 
A  number  had  already  perished,  and  the  balance  were 
carried  back  to  England. 

Cabot  made  a  third  voyage  to  the  North-west  in 
1517,  and  it  is  believed  that  he  discovered  the  two 
straits  which  now  bear  the  names  of  Davis  and  Hud- 
son. 

In  the  year  1500,  Gasper  Cortereal,  of  Portugal, 
sailed  in  search  of  a  North-west  passage.     He  reached 


POETUGUESB  EXPEDITIOKS. 


39 


.  n 


Labrador,  and  sailed  a  long  distance  along  its  coast, 
and  tlien  with  a  number  of  natives  on  board  returned 
home.  The  next  year  he  guided  two  ships  to  the 
noiihei'n  point  of  his  fonner  voyage,  wliere  he  entered 
a  strait ;  here  the  vessels  were  separated  by  a  tem- 
pest. One  of  thvm  succeeded  in  extricating  itself,  and 
searched  for  some  time  in  vain  for  its  lost  consort; 
but  that  Avhicli  had  on  board  the  gallant  leader  of  the 
expedition  returned  no  more,  and  no  trace  could  ever 
be  obtained  of  its  fate. 

The  next  year,  Miguel  Cortereal  sailed  with  three 
ships  in  search  of  his  brother.  Two  of  the  vessels  re- 
turned in  safety,  but  Miguel  and  his  crew  were  never 
heard  from.  A  tliird  brother  ^vished  to  search  for  his 
lost  kindred,  but  the  king  would  not  allow  him  to  do 
so. 

French  expeditions,  under  Yerazzani  (1523)  and 
Cartier  (1524)  were  equally  unsuccessful  in  their 
search  for  the  north-west  passage. 


.i1. 


IH 


i    • 


*; 


ill 

III 


■  > 


i 
I) 


i  I, 


CIIAPTEE,  III. 

ENGLISH  EXPEDITIONS  TO  THE  NORTH- 
EAST. 

(wiLLOUGnBY CHANCELOR BUEROUGHS ETC.) 

In  1553,  after  a  long  slumber,  tlie  spirit  of  discov- 
er}' ill  England  was  again  aroused,  and  a  voyage  Avas 
jjlaiiiied  Avith  a  view  to  reach  by  way  of  the  north 
and  north-east,  the  celebrated  regions  of  India  and 
Cathay. 

Sebastian  Cabot  was  prominent  in  forwarding  this 
enterprise,  and  though  too  old  to  lead  the  expedition 
lie  drew  up  the  instructions  under  which  it  sailed. 
In  it  the  mariners  were  warned  not  to  be  too  much 
alarmed  when  they  saw  the  natives  dressed  in  lions' 
and  bears'  skins,  with  long  bows  and  arrows,  as  this 
formidable  appearance  was  often  assumed  merely  to 
inspire  terror.  He  told  them,  that  there  were  persons 
armed  with  bows,  who  swam  naked,  in  various  seas, 
havens,  and  rivers,  "desirous  of  the  bodies  of  men, 
which  they  covet  for  meat,"  and  against  whom  diligent 
watch  must  be  kept  night  and  day.  He  exhorted 
them  to  use  the  utmost  circumspection  in  their  deal- 
ings A^dth  these  strangers,  and  if  invited  to  dine  with 
any  lord  or  ruler,  to  go  well  armed,  and  in  a  postm'e 
of  defence. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  was  given  to  Sir 

40 


ri- 


EXPEDITION  UNDER  SIB  HUGH  WILLOUGHBY.         41 


Hugh  Willoughby,  and  three  vessels  having  been 
fitted  out  ^vith  great  care,  sailed  from  England  in  the 
month  of  May.  The  court  and  a  great  multitude  of 
people  witnessed  their  departure,  and  the  occasion  was 
one  of  great  interest  and  excitement.  Willoughby 
wa.s  furnished  by  King  Edward,  with  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction,  addressed  to  all  "kings,  princes,  rulers,  Judges, 
and  governoi*s  of  the  earth,"  in  which  free  passage  and 
other  favors  were  asked  for  the  explorers;  and  if 
granted,  he  concluded, — "  We  promise,  by  the  God  of 
all  things  that  are  contained  in  heaven,  earth,  and  the 
sea,  and  by  the  life  and  tranquillity  of  our  kingdoms, 
that  we  will  with  like  humanity  accept  your  servants, 
if  at  any  time  they  shall  come  to  our  kingdoms." 

On  the  14th  of  July  the  explorers  were  near  the 
coast  of  Norway,  and  on  approaching  the  North  Caj^e 
saw  before  them  the  Arctic  Ocean  stretching  onward 
to  the  Pole.  Here  Sir  Hugh  exhorted  his  commanders, 
Chancelor  and  Durfooth  to  keep  close  togetlier.  Soon 
after  this  there  arose  such  "  terrible  wdiii'lwinds,"  that 
they  were  obliged  to  stand  out  to  the  open  sea,  and 
allow  the  vessels  to  drift  at  the  mercy  of  tlie  waves. 

Amid  the  thick  mists  of  the  next  stormy  night  the 
vessels  of  Willoughby  and  Chancelor  separated,  and 
never  again  met.  Willoughby's  pinnace  was  dashed 
to  pieces  amid  the  tempest ;  and  next  moraing,  when 
light  dammed,  he  could  see  neither  of  his  com[)anions ; 
but,  discovering  at  length  the  smaller  vessel  called  the 
Confidence,  he  continued  his  voyage. 

He  now  sailed  nearly  two  hundred  miles  north-east 
and  by  north,  but  was  astonished  and  bewildered  at 
not  discovering  any  symptom  of  land ;  whence  it  ap- 
peared that  *'  the  land  lay  not  as  the  globe  made  men- 
tion."   Instead  of  sailing  along  or  towards  Norway,  he 


*  .'i 


it 


P' 


f 

1; 

( 

1 

1 

1 

*  -4 

1 

42 


FATE   OF  TIIE   EXPLORERS. 


was  plunging  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  unknown 
abyss  of  tlie  Northern  Ocean. 

At  length  land  aj)peared,  but  high,  desolate,  and 
covered  with  snow,  while  no  sound  was  wafted 
over  the  waves,  except  the  crash  of  its  falling  ice  and 
the  hungry  roar  of  its  monsters.  This  coast  ^vn.^  evi- 
dently that  of  Nova  Zembla ;  Ijut  there  Avas  no  point 
at  which  a  landing  could  be  made.  After  another  at- 
tempt to  push  to  the  northwaril,  they  turned  to  the 
south-west,  and  in  a  few  days  saAV  the  coast  of  Rus- 
sian Lapland.  Here  they  must  have  been  veiy  near 
the  o]^)ening  into  the  White  Sea,  into  ^vhich,  had  for- 
tune guided  their  sails,  they  would  have  rejiched 
Archangel,  have  had  a  joyful  meeting  with  their  com- 
rades, and  spent  the  winter  in  comfort  and  security. 
An  evil  destiny  led  tliem  westward. 

The  coast  was  naked,  uninhabited,  and  destitute 
of  shelter,  except  at  one  point,  where  they  found  a 
shore  bold  and  rocky,  but  with  one  or  two  good  har- 
boi-s.  Here,  though  it  was  only  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember, they  felt  already  all  the  prematm'e  rigors  of  a 
northern  season ;  intense  frost,  snow,  and  ice  diiving 
through  the  air,  as  though  it  had  been  the  depth  of 
winter.  The  officei*s  conceived  it  therefore  most  ex- 
pedient to  search  no  longer  along  these  desolate 
shores,  but  to  take  up  their  cpiartei's  in  this  haven  till 
the  ensuing  spring. 

The  narrative  here  closes,  and  the  darkest  gloom 
involves  the  fate  of  this  first  English  expedition. 
Neither  the  commander  nor  any  of  his  brave  compan- 
ions ever  returned  to  their  native  shoi-es.  After  long- 
suspense  and  anxiety,  tidings  reached  England  that 
some  Russian  sailors,  as  they  Avandered  along  these 
dreary  boundaries,  had  been  astonished  by  the  view 


■:.w- 


n 


CIIANCELOR  8   VISIT  TO   RUSSIA. 

of  two  large  ships,  wliich  they  entered,  and  found  the 
gallant  crews  all  lifeless.  There  was  only  the  journal 
of  the  voyage,  Avith  a  note  written  in  January,  show- 
ing that  at  that  date  the  crews  were  still  alive.  "\\'^hat 
•vvas  the  immediate  cause  of  a  catastrophe  so  dismal 
and  so  complete,  whether  the  extremity  of  cold,  fam- 
ine, or  disease,  or  whether  all  these  ills  united  at  once 
assailed  them,  can  now  only  be  matter  of  sad  conjec- 
tui-e.     Thomson  thus  pathetically  laments  their  fate : — 

"  Miserable  they, 
Who,  here  entangled  in  the  gathering  ice, 
Talic  their  last  look  of  the  descending  sun, 
While,  full  of  death,  and  fierce  with  tenfold  frost, 
The  long,  long  night,  incumbent,  o'er  tlieir  heads, 
Falls  horrible.     Such  was  the  Briton's  fate, 
As  with^/f)*s<  prow  (what  have  not  Britons  dared  !) 
Be  for  the  passage  sought,  attempted  aiuce 
So  much  in  vain. " 

After  parting  M-ith  the  other  two  ships  Chancelor 
reached  the  port  of  Wardhuys  and  after  Avaiting  seven 
days  for  his  companions,  pushed  fearlessly  on  toward 
the  noi-th-east,  and  sailed  so  far  that  he  came  at  last 
"  to  a  place  Avliere  they  found  no  night  at  all."  Tlien 
they  reached  the  entrance  of  an  immense  bay  (the 
AVhite  Sea)  and  espied  a  fishing  boat,  the  crew  of 
which,  having  never  seen  a  vessel  of  similar  magnitude, 
were  as  much  astonished  as  the  native  Americans  had 
been  at  the  Spaniards,  and,  taking  the  alarm,  fled  at 
full  speed.  Chancelor,  with  his  party,  iiui*sued  and 
overtook  them ;  ^^•]lereupon  they  fell  flat  on  the  ground 
half-dead,  crying  for  mercy.  He  immediately  raised 
them  most  courteously,  and  by  looks,  gestures,  and 
gifts,  expressed  the  most  kind  intentions.  Being  then 
allowed  to  depart,  they  spread  everywhere  the  report 
of  the  arrival  "  of  a  strange  nation,  of  singular  gentle- 
ness and  courtesy."     The  natives  came  in  crowds,  and 


ii 


i;, 


I 


.' 


II 


f  •, 


44 


DEATH   OF   CIIANCELOU. 


the  sailors  were  copiously  sii2ii)lie(l  with  provisions 
and  eveiything  they  wanted. 

C'hancelor  now  learned  that  he  was  at  the  extremity 
of  a  vast  country  obscurely  known  as  Russia  or  Mus- 
covy, ruled  by  a  sovereign  named  Ivan  Vasilovitch, 
and  obtained  peraiission  to  visit  him  at  his  court  at 
IMoscow.  The  journey  was  made  on  sledges,  and 
Chancelor  returned  Avith  a  letter  from  the  Czar,  grant- 
ing privileges  to  tradei-s,  which  led  to  the  formation 
of  the  Muscovy  Company. 

Chancelor  went  to  Russia  a  second  time,  iu  the 
employ  of  this  company ;  and  on  the  homcAvard  voyage 
with  four  ships  and  an  am])assador  from  the  Czar, 
tAVo  of  the  vessels  were  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Nor- 
way ;  a  third  reached  the  Tliames ;  but  the  fourth,  in 
which  were  the  chiefs  of  the  expedition,  was  driven 
ashore  on  the  coast  of  Scotland,  Avhere  it  went  entirely 
to  pieces.  Chancelor  endeavored,  in  a  very  dark 
night,  to  convey  himself  and  the  ambassador  ashore 
in  a  boat.  The  skiff  was  overwhelmed  by  the  tempest, 
and  Chancelor  was  droAvned,  though  the  ambassador 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  land.  He  thence  proceeded 
to  London,  whei'e  Philip  and  Mary  gave  him  a  splen- 
did and  pompous  reception. 

In  1556,  a  vessel  called  the  Searchthrift,  was  fitted 
out  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Stephen  Bur- 
roughs, who  had  gone  mth  Chancelor  on  his  first 
voyage.  Enthusiasm  and  ho})e  seem  to  liave  lisen  as 
high  as  at  the  departure  of  the  first  expedition.  Se- 
bastian Cabot  came  doAvn  to  Gravesend  with  a  laro-e 
party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and,  having  first  gone 
on  board,  and  rtaken  of  such  cheer  as  the  vessel 
afforded,  invitea  Burroughs  and  his  company  to  a 
splendid   banquet   at   the   sign   of   the  Christopher. 


I 


^4 


5 

H 


IS 

c 

r. 

c 


^ 


;i)l 


fitted 
Bur- 

iirst 


laro'e 
gone 
vessel 
to  a 
•plier. 


i 


1  I 
ill 


ill! 


!  ? 


ENGLISH  TRA\T:LER8   IN   ASIA. 


45 


Among  the  islands  of  Waygatz,  the  voyagers  fell  in 
with  a  UiisHian  craft,  and  on  giving  the  master  there- 
of a  i)n'sent  of  pewter  spoons,  he  stated  that  the  ad- 
joining country  was  that  of  the  wild  Samoldes,  who 
were  said  to  eat  Russians  when  oi)portunity  offered. 
At  a  deserted  encampment  of  these  people,  Hun-oughs 
saw  three  hundred  of  their  idols — human  figures  of 
hoirible  as})ect. 

After  tliis.  Burroughs  aj)proached  Nova  Zembln,  hut 
as  winter  was  near  he  concluded  that  it  would  be 
useless  to  attempt  further  explorations  that  season, 
and  so  turned  homeward. 

The  Muscovy  Company  now  attempted  to  open 
communication  with  Persia  and  India  across  the  Cas- 
pian, and  by  ascending  the  Oxus  to  Bochara.  This 
scheme  they  ])rosecuted  at  great  cost,  and  by  a  series 
of  l)old  adventures,  in  which  Jenkinson,  Johnson,  Al- 
cocke,  and  other  of  their  agents,  penetrated  deep  into 
the  interior  regions  of  Asia.  An  unusual  deij^ree  of 
courage  was  indeed  necessary  to  undertake  this  expe- 
dition, which  was  to  be  begun  by  passing  round  the 
North  Cape  to  the  "Wliite  Sea,  then  by  a  land  journey 
and  \'oyage  down  the  Volga,  across  the  Avhole  breadth 
of  the  Russian  empire  to  Astrakhan,  before  they  could 
even  embark  on  the  Caspian.  It  was  soon  ascertained, 
that  no  goods  could  bear  the  cost  of  such  an  immense 
and  dangerous  conveyance  by  sea  and  land. 

This  channel  of  intercourse  with  the  Indies  haWncr 
failed,  attention  was  again  attracted  to  the  nnite  by 
the  north  and  east  of  Asia.  John  Balak,  anIio  had 
been  living  at  Duisburg,  sent  on  much  infomiation  of 
the  country,  and  of  the  attempts  of  a  traveler  named 
Assenius  to  penetrate  to  the  eastAvard.  He  described 
a  river,   probably   the   Yenisei,   doAvn   which   came 


m:  ^ 


\     : 


46 


ENGLISH   TRAVELERS   IN"  ASIA. 


'  "< 


"  great  vessels  laden  "with  rich  and  preeions  merchan- 
dise, brought  l)y  l)lack  or  swart  people."  In  ascend- 
ing this  ri%'er,  men  came  t<^  the  great  lake  of  Baikal, 
on  Avhose  banks  were  the  Kara  Kalmucs,  who,  he  as- 
serted, were  the  very  jieople  of  C.^athay.  It  was  added, 
that  on  the  shores  of  this  lake  had  been  heard  sweet 
harmony  of  bells,  and  that  stately  and  large  buildings 
had  been  seen  therein. 

Eeasonint;  from  this  new  infonnation  Gerard  Mer- 
cator,  the  famous  geographer  and  map-maker  of  those 
days,  claimed  that  a  short  passage  bej'ond  the  limit 
already  reached  by  navigators  "would  carry  them  to 
Japan  and  Cliiiia.  This  "was  undei-rating  the  Itreadth 
of  Asia  l>y  a  hundred  degrees  of  longitude,  or  more 
than  a  foui'th  of  the  circumference  of  the  globe. 

To  realize  these  views,  t\vo  vessels  under  Arthur 
Pet  and  Charles  Jackson  left  England  in  158<).  On 
reaching  high  latitudes  they  were  surrounded  witli 
fields  of  ice.  Tliey  were  also  enveloped  in  fogs,  and 
obliged  to  fasten  to  icebergs,  wliere,  "abiding  the 
Lord's  leisure,  they  continued  with  patience."  Finally 
they  found  their  Avay  home  without  making  an}'  prog- 
ress at  solving  the  problem. 


■:] 


i\ 


r- 

•e 
it 

X) 

h 

re 

It 
>n 
th 
id 

be 

ly 


?!::fe  . 


I 


I  I 


n 


■\ 


|!t 


1         ' 

^? 


I  ^ 
cq 


CHAPTER  IV. 
DUTCH  EXPEDITIONS  TO  THE  NORTH-EAST. 

(WM.    BARENTZ CORNELIZ    RYP.) 

The  English  attempt  to  find  a  Nortli-east  passage 
to  the  Indies  having  all  signally  failed,  tli^  Dutch  took 
up  the  enterprise,  and  a  r,  /ciety  of  merchants  fitted  out 
three  vessels,  which  sailed  from  the  Texel  on  the  5th  of 
June,  159-4,  under  the  general  guidance  of  William 
Biu-entz,  a  noted  pilot,  and  an  exj)ert  sailor. 

On  approaching  Nova  Zembla  two  of  the  ships  at- 
tempted to  pass  by  the  old  route  of  the  Strait  of  Way- 
gatz ;  but  Barentz  himself,  taking  a  bolder  course, 
endeavored  to  pass  round  to  the  northward  of  Nova 
Zembla,  Avhich  oppose'1  his  eastward  ^"•I'ogress.  Pass- 
ing the  Black  Cape  and  William's  Isle,  they  saw 
various  features  characteristic  of  the  Arctic  Avoi'ld.  At 
the  Orange  Isles,  they  came  upon  three  hundred  wal- 
rus, lying  in  heaps  upon  the  sand  and  basking  in  the 
sun.  Supposing  that  these  animals  were  hel})less  on 
sliore,  the  sailors  nuuvhed  against  them  with  i)ikes 
and  hatchets,  but,  to  theii"  surprise,  were  obliged  to 
retire  in  dishonor. 

The  crews  had  a  fierce  encounter  with  a  Polar  bear. 
Having  seen  one  on  the  shore,  they  entered  their 
shallop,  and  discharged  se\eral  balls  at  him,  but  \vith- 

4.7 


!r 


11 


" 


I    I 


J     H  I 


l!i     '- 


1 


I  '.! 


48 


DUTCH   ARCTIC    EXPEDITIONS. 


out  Inflicting  any  deadly  wound.  Tliey  were  then 
happy  when  they  succeeded  in  throwing  a  noose  about 
his  neck,  hoping  to  lead  him  like  a  laj)dog,  and  carry 
him  as  a  trophy  into  Holland.  They  were  not  a  little 
alarmed  by  his  mighty  and  tremendous  struggles ;  but 
what  AVcis  their  consternation,  when  he  fastened  his 
paws  on  the  stern  and  entered  the  boat !  The  whole 
crew  e:  pected  instant  death,  either  from  the  sea  or 
from  his  jaws.  Providentially  at  this  moment  the 
noose  got  entangled  Avith  the  iron  work  of  the  rudder^ 
and  the  creature  struggled  in  vain  to  extricate  him- 
seK.  Seeing  him  thus  fixed,  they  mustered  courage  to 
advance  and  despatch  him  with  their  spears. 

Barentz,  -""iched  the  northern  extremity  of  Nova 
Zembla  by  ^.  igust  1st ;  but  the  wind  blew  so  strong, 
that  he  and  his  crew  gave  up  hope  of  passing  that 
point,  and  resolved  to  return. 

The  two  other  vessels  meantime  pushed  on  along 
the  coast.  On  turning  a  point  the  Dutch  observed 
one  of  those  great  collections  of  rudely  carved  images 
which  had  been  formerly  remarked  by  Burroughs. 
These  consisted  of  men,  women,  and  children,  some- 
times having  from  four  to  eight  heads,  all  with  their 
faces  turned  eastward,  and  many  horns  of  reindeer  ly- 
ing at  their  feet ;  it  was  called,  therefore,  the  Caj)e  of 
Idols. 

After  passing  through  the  strait  of  AVaygatz,  and 
sailing  for  some  space  along  the  coast  of  Nova  Zembla, 
they  were  repelled  T)y  the  icy  barriers ;  but  having  hy 
perseverance  rf>unded  these,  they  arrived  at  a  wide, 
blue,  open  sea,  Avith  the  coast  l>ending  rapidly  soutli- 
ward  ;  and  though  this  was  only  the  shore  of  the  Gulf 
of  Obi,  they  doubted  not  that  it  was  tlie  eastern 
boundary  of  Asia,  and  would  afford  <in  easy  passage 


SECOND    DUTCH    VOYAGE. 


49 


down  upon  Cliina.  Instead,  however,  of  prosecuting 
this  voyage,  tliey  determined  to  hasten  back  and  com- 
municate to  their  countrymen  this  joyful  intelligence. 
The  two  divisions  met  on  the  coast  of  Russian  Lapland, 
and  arrived  in  the  Texel  on  the  16th  of  Sej^tember. 

The  intelligence  conveyed  in  regard  to  the  latter 
part  of  this  expedition  kindled  the  most  sanguine 
hopes  in  the  government  and  people  of  Holland.  Six 
vessels  were  fitted  out,  not  as  for  adventure  and  dis- 
covery, but  as  for  assured  success,  and  for  cariying 
on  an  extensive  traffic  in  the  golden  regions  of  the 
East.  They  were  laden  with  merchandise,  and  well 
supplied  Avith  money ;  while  a  seventh,  a  light  yacht, 
was  instructed  to  follow  them  till  they  had  passed 
Tabis,  the  supposed  bounding  promontoiy  of  Asia; 
when,  hanng  finally  extricated  themselves  from  the 
Polar  ices  and  directed  their  course  to  China,  it  was 
to  return  to  Holland  with  the  jo}^ul  tidings. 

The  squadron  sailed  from  the  Texel,  the  2d  of  June 
1595.  Nothing  great  occurred  till  the  4th  of  August 
when  they  reached  the  strait  between  Waygatz  and 
the  continent,  to  which  they  had  given  the  appellation 
of  the  Strait  of  Nassau.  They  came  to  the  Cape  of 
Idols ;  but  though  these  were  still  drawn  up  in  full 
array,  no  trace  was  found  of  the  habitations  which 
the}^  miglit  have  seemed  to  indicate.  A  Russian  ves- 
sel, however,  constructed  of  pieces  of  bark  scAved  to- 
gether,  was  met  on  its  way  from  the  Pechora  to  the 
Obi  in  search  of  the  teeth  of  the  sea-horse,  whale-oil, 
and  geese.  The  sailors  accosted  the  Dutch  In  a  ven'' 
friendly  manner,  presented  eight  fat  birds,  and  on 
going  on  board  one  of  the  vessels,  were  stnick  with 
astonishment  at  its  magnitude,  its  equipments,  and  the 
hiuli  order  with  which  everything  was  arranged.     This 


ii 


Ii 


>  '! 


I  ■' 


60 


DUTCH    ARCTIC    EXPEDITIOXS. 


J 

It-          ■      I 
1 

!| 


being  a  f cast- Jay,  tliey  refused  meat,  butter,  and  cheese  ; 
but,  on  being  offered  a  raw  herring,  eagerly  swallowed 
it  entire,  liead  and  tail  inclusive. 

Tlie  navigators,  after  considerable  search,  fell  in 
Avith  a  party  of  Samoiedes,  who  manifested  much 
jealousy  of  the  strangers,  and  on  the  approach  of 
the  interpreter,  drew  their  arrows  to  shoot  him  ;  but 
he  called  out,  "  We  are  friends  ";  upon  which  they 
laid  down  their  weapons,  and  saluted  him  in  the  Rus- 
sian st}le,  by  bending  their  heads  to  the  groiuid. 

On  hearing  a  gun  fired,  they  ran  away  and  leaped 
like  madmen,  till  assured  that  no  harm  was  intended. 
A  sailor  l)t)ldly  went  up  to  the  chief,  dignified  in  the 
narrative  with  the  title  of  king,  and  presented  him 
with  some  biscuit,  Avhich  the  monarch  graciously  ac- 
cepted and  ate,  though  looking  round  someAvhat  sus- 
piciously. At  length  the  parties  took  a  friendly 
leave;  but  a  native  ran  after  the  foreigners  with 
sicrns  of  erreat  ancrer,  on  account  of  one  of  their  rude 
statues  which  a  sailor  had  carried  off. 

Being  informed  that  a  few  days'  sail  would  bring 
them  t(»  a  point  beyond  which  there  was  a  large  open 
sea,  they  made  repeated  attempts  to  reach  it,  but  were 
driven  back  by  floating  ice,  and  at  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember A\cre  forced  to  return  to  Holland  without 
having  acc<>m])lished  any  one  of  the  brilliant  exploits 
for  wliich  they  had  set  out. 

Another  exj)edition  of  two  vessels,  entrasted 
to  Barentz  and  Corneliz  R}'p,  sailed  from  Amster- 
dam on  the  10th  of  May,  1590.  As  homesickness 
was  suspected  to  have  some  relation  to  the  failure  of 
formei"  ex]>editions,  none  but  unmarried  persons  were 
admitted  as  mend^ers. 

Avoiding  the  coast  of  Russia  they  pushed  north- 


DISCOVERY   OP  BPITZBERGEN, 


51 


erly,  and  on  the  22d  saw  the  Shetland  Islands.  On 
the  9th  of  June  they  discovered  a  long  island  rising 
abruptly  into  steep  and  lofty  cliffs,  and  named  it  Bear 
Island.  Tlie  horror  of  this  isle  to  their  view  must 
have  been  unspeakable:  the  prospect  dreary;  black 
where  not  hid  with  snoAV,  and  broken  into  a  thousand 
precipices.  No  sounds  but  of  the  dashing  of  the 
waves,  the  crashing  collision  of  floating  ice,  the  dis- 
cordant notes  of  myriads  of  sea-fo^vl,  the  yelping  of 
Arctic  foxes,  the  snorting  of  the  walruses,  or  the 
roarinir  of  the  Polar  l)ears. 

Proceeding  onward,  they  reached  the  latitude  of  80°, 
and  discovered  the  coast  of  the  Spitzbergen  Archipel- 
ago, a  cluster  of  islands  lying  nearer  the  Noi-th  Pole 
thau  any  other  known  land,  excei)ting  the  regions  dis- 
covered by  Kane,  Ilaj'es,  and  Hall.  Notwithstand- 
ing its  high  latitude,  Spitzbergen  has  been  much 
fre(|uented  by  whaling-ships,  ^valrus  hunters  and  ame- 
teur  sportsmen. 

The  mariners,  finding  their  progress  eastward  stop- 
ped by  this  line  of  coast,  now  retraced  their  nmte 
along  its  deep  bays,  still  steering  southward  till  they 
found  themselves  again  at  Bear  Island.  Here  Corneliz 
and  Barentz  separated ;  the  former  proposing  to  push 
again  northward. 

Barentz  proceeded  south-easterly  intending  to  round 
the  northern  point  of  Nova  Zeml)la.  On  the  0th  of 
August,  he  fastened  his  vessel  to  a  large  iceberg  amid 
drifting  ice,  off  Cape  Nassau. 

On  the  10th,  the  ice  began  to  separate,  and  the  sea- 
men remarked  that  the  l)ero:  to  which  thev  were 
moored  Avas  fixed  to  the  bottom,  and  that  all  the 
others  struck  asfainst  it.  Afraid  that  these  loose 
pieces  would  collect  and  enclose  them,  they  sailed  on, 


If 


\    !    ! 


52 


DUTCH    ARCTIC    EXPEDITIONS. 


VVi 


'' 

1 

ti 

■ 

f 

i 

1 

?  i 


! 


\l4 


■  <v 


it 


4 Ji  ,  i  ! ;  i 


mooring  themselves  to  successive  fragments,  one  of 
wliicli  rose  like  a  steeple,  l»eing  twenty  fatlioms 
a])ove  and  twelve  beneath  tlie  water.  They  saw 
around  them  more  than  four  Inuidred  lai'ije  iceberrjs, 
the  fear  of  which  made  them  keep  close  to  the  shore, 
not  being  aware  that  in  that  quarter  they  were 
formed. 

Steering  on  they  came  to  Orange  Island,  which  forms 
the  noi*thern  extremity  of  Kova  Zembla.  Here  ten 
men  swam  on  shore,  and,  having  mounted  several  piles 
of  ice  Avhich  rose,  as  it  were,  into  a  little  mountain, 
they  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  coast  tending 
soutlnvard,  and  a  wide  open  sea  to  the  south-east. 
They  hastened  back  to  Barentz  Avith  these  Joj'ful 
tidings,  and  the  success  of  the  voyage  was  considered 
almost  secure. 

But  these  hopes  Avere  delusive.  After  doubling 
Cape  Desire  they  Avere  drawn  into  what  they  called 
Icy  Port,  and  the  vessel  was  thrown  into  a  position 
almost  perpendicular.  From  this  critical  attitude  they 
were  relieved  next  day ;  but  fresh  masses  of  ice  con- 
tinually increased  the  terrible  ramparts  around  them. 

The  explorers  now  felt  that  they  must  bid  adieu 
for  this  year  to  all  hopes  of  escape  from  their  icy  j)rison. 
As  the  vessel  Avas  cracking  continually,  and  opening  in 
diiferent  quai-ters,  they  made  no  doubt  of  its  going  to 
pieces,  and  could  hope  to  survive  the  AA-inter  only  by 
constructing  a  hut,  which  might  shelter  them  from 
the  approaching  rigor  of  the  season.  Parties  sent 
into  the  country  reported  having  seen  footstejis  of  rein- 
deei',  also  a  river  of  fresh  Avater,  and,  Avhat  Avas  more 
important  still,  a  great  quantity  of  fine  trees,  A\'ith  the 
rooty  still  attached  to  them,  strcAved  upon  the  shore, 
all  brought  doAvn  the  riA'ers  of  Russia  and  Tartary. 


iirnnsoxED  for  the  wintor. 


53 


Theso  clrouinstances  cheered  the  mariners;  they 
tnisted  that  Providence,  which  had  in  this  suq^rising 
manner  furnished  materials  to  Iniihl  a  house,  and  fuel 
to  wariii  it,  Avould  sni)i)ly  also  whatever  was  necessary 
for  their  passing  through  the  approaching  winter,  and 
for  returning  at  length  to  their  native  country.  A 
sledge  A\as  instantly  constructed  ;  three  men  cut  the 
wood,  whik^  ten  drew  it  to  the  spot  niarked  out  for 
the  hut.  They  sought  to  raise  a  rampart  of  eai-th  fin- 
shelter  and  security,  and  employed  a  long  line  of  fire 
in  the  hoi)e  of  softening  the  ground,  Imt  in  vain.  The 
carpenter  lu'mng  died,  it  was  found  impossilde  to  dig 
a  t!:rave  for  him,  and  they  lodged  his  hody  in  a  cleft 
of  the  rock. 

The  huildiu!]:  of  the  hut  was  carried  on  with  ardor, 
yet  the  c<dd  endured  in  this  ojieration  was  intense, 
and  almost  insnpportal)le.  The  snow  sometimes  fell 
so  thick,  for  days  successively,  that  the  seamen  could 
not  stir  from  nnder  cover.  They  had  at  the  same 
time  hard  and  perpetual  cond)ats  Avith  the  Polar  bear. 
One  day  three  of  these  furious  animals  chased  the 
working  party  into  the  vessel  and  advanced  furiously 
to  attack  them,  but  finally  retreated. 

Scmietime  after  this  a  westerly  wind  cleared  away 
the  ice  and  they  saw  a  wide  open  sea  v.  ithont,  ^vhile 
the  vessel  was  enclosed  within,  as  it  "were,  by  a  solid 
wall.  By  October  they  cc^mpleted  their  hut,  and  pre- 
pared to  convey  thither  their  provisions  and  stores. 
Some  painful  discoveries  were  now  made.  Several 
tuns  of  fine  Dantzic  beer,  of  medicinal  qnality,  from 
which  they  had  anticipated  nnich  comfort,  had  frozen 
so  hard  as  to  burst  the  casks ;  the  contents  remained  in 
the  form  of  ice,  but  when  thawed  it  tasted  like  bad 
water. 


54 


DUTCU   ARCTIC   EXl'EDITIOXS. 


n 


f  '  I 


I:/  'U 


t     'I 


I        '' 


Tlie  sun  began  now  tf)  pay  only  short,  visits,  and  to 
give  signs  of  approacliing  departure.  He  rose  in  tlie 
soutli-soutli-east  and  set  in  tlie  soutli-soiith-west,  wLile 
tlie  moon  was  scarcely  dimmed  by  his  presence.  On 
tlie  4th  of  November  the  sky  was  calm  and  cleai',  but 
no  sun  rose  or  set. 

The  dreary  winter  niglit  of  three  months,  ^vhich 
had  now  set  in,  was  not,  however,  without  some  alle- 
viations. .  The  moon,  now  at  the  full,  wheeled  liei*  pale 
but  perpetual  circle  round  the  lun'izon.  With  the  sun 
disaj[)peared  also  the  bear,  and  in  his  room  came  the 
Arctic  fox,  a  beautiful  little  creature,  "whose  flesh  re- 
sembled kid,  and  furnished  a  variety  to  their  meals. 
They  found  great  difficulty  in  the  measurement  of 
time,  and  on  the  Oth  rose  late  in  the  day,  when 
a  controversy  ensued  whether  it  was  day  or  night. 
The  cold  had  stopped  the  movements  of  all  the  clocks, 
but  they  aftenvard  formed  a  sand-glass  of  twelve 
hours,  by  ^vhich  they  contrived  tolerably  to  estimate 
their  time. 

On  the  od  of  December,  as  the  sailors  lay  in  bed, 
they  heard  from  without  a  noise  as  tremendous  as  if 
all  the  mountains  of  ice  by  which  they  were  suri'ound- 
ed  had  fallen  in  pieces  over  each  other,  and  the  first 
light  which  they  afterwai'd  obtained  showed  a  consider- 
able extent  of  open  sea. 

As  the  season  advanced,  the  cold  became  always 
more  and  more  intense.  Early  in  December  a  dense 
fall  of  snow  stopped  up  the  smoke  flues  so  that  nothing 
but  a  low  fire  could  be  kept  up.  The  room  was  thus 
kopt  at  a  low  temperature,  which  was  partially  remedied 
by  Avarming  the  beds  mth  heated  stones.  Ice  two 
inches  thick  formed  on  the  walls ;  and  their  suffering 
came  to  such  an  extremity,  that,  casting  at  each  other 


'1^^ 


■'■r   .      ^ 
,^-^^' 


ENCOUNTER    \VIT]I    A    DEAR. 


bb 


ljiii;2;ulsliing  and  ])iteous  looks,  tliey  aiiticipjitotl     lie 
extinction  of  the  life  of  the  whole  crew. 

They  now  resolved  that,  cost  what  it  might,  they 
sh<  )nld  for  once  be  thoroughly  warmed.    They  repaired, 
tliei'efoi-e,  to  the  sliij),  whence  they  brought  an  ample 
supply  of  coal ;  and  having  kin<l]ed  an   immense  fire, 
and  carefully  sto[)ped  up   the   Avindows    and    eveiy 
apertui'e  by  which  the  cold  could  penetrate,  they  did 
brin*^'  themselves  into  a  most  comfortable  temperature. 
In  tj..s  delicious  state,  to  which  they  had  been  so  long 
sti-angers,  they  Avent  to  rest,  and  talked  gayly  for  some 
time  before  falling  asleep.     Suddenly,  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  several  awakened  in  a  state  of  tlie  most 
painful  vertigo;  their  cries  roused  the  rest  and    all 
found  themselves,  more  or  less,  in  the  same  alarmino- 
jii'edicament.     On  attenpting    to    i-ise,  they  ])ecame 
dizzy,  and  could  neither  stand  nor  walk.     At  length 
two  or  three  contrived  to  stagger  towards  the  door; 
hnt  the  first  who  opened  it  fell  doAvn  insensible  among 
the  snow,  but  the  wintry  air,  which  had  been  their 
gi-eatest  dread,  now  restored  life  to  the  Avhole  party. 
In  the  midst  of  these  suifei'ings,  remembering  that 
the  5th  of  Janiiaiy  w^as  the  feast  of  the  Kings,  they 
besought  the  master  that  they  might  be  allowed  to 
celebrate  that  great  Dutch  festival.     Tliey  had  saved 
a  little  wine  and  tAvo  pounds  of  flour,  with  which  they 
fried  pancakes  in  oil ;  the  tickets  were  drawn,  the  gun- 
ner was  crowned  king  of  Nova  Zembla,  and  the  eve- 
ning passed  as  merrily  as  if  they  had  been  at  home 
round  their  native  fireside. 

Al)out  the  middle  of  Januarj^  the  crews  began  to 
experience  some  abatement  of  that  deep  darkness  in 
which  they  had  so  long  been  involved,  and  affairs 
assumed  a  more  cheerful  aspect.     Instead  of  constant- 


»(r 


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Hiotographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY    14580 

(716)  873-4503 


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56 


DUTCH    ARCTIC    EXPEDITIONS. 


'" 


I   I 


ly  moping  in  the  hut,  the  men  went  out  daily,  em- 
ployed themselves  in  walking,  running,  and  athletic 
games,  which  wanned  their  bodies  and  presen-ed 
their  health.  "With  the  sun,  however,  appeared  their 
old  enemy,  the  bear.  One  attacked  them  amid  so 
thick  a  mist  that  they  could  not  see  to  point  their 
pieces,  and  sought  shelter  in  the  hut.  The  bear  came 
to  the  door,  and  made  the  most  desperate  attempts  to 
burst  it  open ;  but  the  master  kept  his  back  firaily 
set  against  it,  and  the  animal  at  last  retreated.  Soon 
after  he  mounted  the  roof,  where,  having  in  vain  at- 
tempted to  enter  Ijy  the  chimney,  he  made  furious 
attempts  to  pull  it  down,  ha^^ng  torn  the  sail  in 
which  it  was  Avrapped ;  all  the  while  his  frightful  and 
hungry  roarings  sj^read  dismay  through  the  mansion 
beneath ;  at  length  he  retreated.  Another  came  so 
close  to  the  man  on  guard,  who  was  looking  another 
way,  that,  on  receiving  the  alarm  from  those  Avithin 
and  looking  about,  he  saw  liimseK  almost  in  the  jaAvs 
of  the  bear;  however,  he  had  the  presence  of  mind 
instantly  to  fire,  -svlien  the  animal  was  struck  in  the 
head,  retreated,  and  was  afterward  pursued  and  de- 
sj)atched. 

In  February,  a  heavy  north-east  gale  brought  a  cold 
more  intense  than  ever,  and  buried  the  hut  again 
under  snow.  Tlils  was  the  more  deeply  felt,  as  the 
men's  strength  and  supply  of  generous  food  to  recruit 
it  were  alike  on  the  decline.  They  no  longer  at- 
tempted daily  to  clear  a  road,  but  those  who  were 
able  went  out  and  in  by  the  chimney.  A  dreadful 
calamity  then  overtook  them  in  the  failure  of  their 
stock  of  wood  for  fuel.  They  began  to  gather  all  the 
fi'agments  which  had  been  thrown  away,  or  lay  scat- 
tered about  the  hut ;  but  these  being  soon  exhausted. 


THE   SHIP   DESERTED. 


57 


it  belioovecl  them  to  carry  out  their  sleilge  in  search 
of  more.  To  dig  the  trees,  however,  cmt  of  the  deep 
snow,  and  drag  them  to  the  hut,  was  a  task  which,  in 
their  present  exhausted  state,  wouhl  have  appeared 
impossible,  had  they  not  felt  that  they  must  do  it  or 
perish. 

In  the  course  of  March  and  April,  the  weather  be- 
came milder,  yet  the  baiTiera  which  enclosed  the  ship 
continued,  and,  to  their  inexpressible  grief,  rapidly  in- 
creased. In  the  middle  of  March  these  ramparts  Nvere 
only  75  paces  broad,  in  the  beginning  of  May  they 
were  500.  These  piles  of  ice  resembled  the  houses  of 
a  great  city,  interepersed  with  apparent  towei-s,  steeples, 
and  chimneys.  The  sailors,  viewing  with  despair  this 
position  of  the  vessel,  earnestly  entreated  pennission 
to  fit  out  the  two  boats,  and  in  them  to  undertake  the 
voyage  homeward.  The  mere  digging  of  the  boats 
from  under  the  snow  was  a  most  laborious  task,  and 
the  equipment  of  them  would  have  been  next  to  im- 
possible, but  for  the  enthusiasm  with  Avhich  it  was  un- 
dertaken. 

By  the  11th  of  June  they  had  the  boats  fitted  out 
their  clothes  packed,  and  the  provisions  embarked. 
Then,  however,  they  had  to  cut  a  way  through  the 
steeps  and  walls  of  ice  which  intervened  between  them 
and  the  open  sea  Amid  the  extreme  fatigue  of  dig- 
ging,  breaking,  and  cutting,  they  were  kept  in  jjlay 
by  a  huge  bear  w'hich  had  come  over  the  frozen  sea 
from  Tartary. 

At  length  the  crew,  having  embarked  all  their 
clothes  and  jirovisions,  set  sail  on  the  14th  with  a 
westerly  breeze.  In  the  three  following  days  they 
passed  the  Cape  of  Isles,  Cape  Desii-e,  and  came  to 
Orange  Isle,  always  working  their  wtiy  through  much 


68 


DUTCH    ARCTIC    EXPEDniOXS. 


I 


I  I 


4  M 


encum'bering  ice.  Ah  they  were  off  Icy  Cupe^  Bar- 
entz,  Avlio  luul  Leen  long  struggling  with  severe  ill- 
uess,  desired  to  be  lifted  up  that  he  might  take  a  last 
view  of  that  fatal  and  terrible  boundary,  and  he  gazed 
upon  it  for  a  considerable  time. 

On  the  following  day  the  boats  were  again  involved 
amid  masses  of  drift-ice ;  but  one  of  the  men  boldly 
took  a  rope  to  a  solid  floe,  and  by  this  means  all  the 
crew,  then  the  st(M'es,  and  finally  the  boat  itself,  reach- 
ed a  secure  position.  During  this  detention  Barentz 
died,  to  the  great  grief  of  all  his  crew. 

On  tlu;  22(1  there  appeared  open  sea  at  a  little  dis- 
tance, and  having  dragged  the  boats  over  successive 
pieces  of  ice,  they  were  again  afloat.  In  the  three  fol- 
lo\ving  days  they  reached  Cape  Nassau,  the  ice  fre- 
quently stopping  them,  but  opening  again  like  the 
gates  of  a  sluice,  and  allowing  a  })assage.  On  the  2Cth 
they  Avere  obliged  once  more  to  disembark  and  f)itch 
their  tents  on  the  frozen  surface. 

On  the  7th  of  July  they  again  dragged  the  boats  to 
an  open  sea,  an<l  from  this  date  their  progress  though 
often  obstructed  was  never  stopped.  Ou  the  28th 
they  approached  the  southeni  part  of  Nova  Zembla 
where  they  found  two  Russian  vessels  at  auchor,  and 
were  received  by  their  crews  with  much  courtesy. 

After  mutual  presents,  the  parties  set  out  to  sail 
together  to  Waygatz,  but  were  separated  by  a  gale. 
On  the  4th  of  August  the  Dutch  came  in  view  of  the 
coast  of  Russia,  and  after  a  tedious  voyage  along  the 
shore  reached  Kola,  where  they  found  Corneliz,  who 
conveyed  them  to  Amsterdam.  Corneliz  had  not  been 
successful  in  making   any  discoveiy  of   importance. 


VUTIVK  ClU}bS  AMD  MIUKIUHT  SUN-NUBTUUIUi  liUSfilA. 


t    • 


1 

'I' 
^  1  ! 

1 

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i        ; 

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1 

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i 

1  1 

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1 

II 

ii 

CHAPTER  V. 

ARCTIC  VOYAGES  OF  MARTIN  FROBISIIER 
AND  JOHN  DAVIS. 

In  the  early  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  great 
enterprise  of  finding  a  North-western  passage  was 
ajiain  revived  in  Enffland.  Since  the  discoveries  of 
Cahot  no  progress  had  been  made  at  solving  the 
problem,  although  two  English  expeditions  had  sailed 
to  Northern  America, 

The  first  one  consisted  of  two  ships,  having  on 
board  "  divers  cunning  men,"  one  of  whom  was  a  canon 
of  St.  Paul's,  a  great  mathematician,  and  -wealthy. 
The  ships  reached  Newfoundland,  where  one  of  them 
was  wrecked ;  the  other  vessel  sailed  southward,  and 
then  returned  to  England. 

Nine  years  aftenvards,  another  voyage  was  made  in 
the  same  direction  by  a  company  of  adventurera  of 
highest  respectability.  This  gay  band  mustered  in 
military  array  at  Gravesend,  and  having  taken  the 
sacrament,  went  on  board  ship.  They  had  a  long  and 
tedious  voyage,  during  which  their  buoyant  spirits 
considerably  flagged.  Ha\nng  reached  NeAvf  oundland, 
they  saw  a  boat  \nth  the  "  natural  people  of  the 
country."  A  barge  was  fitted  out  to  treat  with  them ; 
but  the  savages,  alarmed,  fled  precipitately,  relinipiish- 
ing  the  side  of  a  bear  which  they  had  been  roasting. 

59 


IT 


I     s 


II 


I       r;|l 


1 1 


I 


60 


EXGLISn   ADVENTTRERS. 


The  coast  "was  barren  and  desolate,  and  a  fi,  ,n*ne 
soon  rose  to  siu-li  a  pitcli  as  to  drive  them  to  tlie 
extremity  of  cannibalism.  They  had  arranged  the 
casting  of  lots  to  decide  whose  life  nhould  be  sacrificed 
to  save  the  rest,  >vhen  a  I'^rench  ship  ai»]K!are<l  in  view. 
Finding  it  to  be  both  in  good  order  and  well  stored 
witli  provisions,  the  English  scrupled  not  to  attack 
and  seize  it ;  and  in  it  they  made  their  way  to  Eng- 
land in  a  most  miserable  condition,  leaving  their  own 
bark  to  the  ejected  crew. 

Soon  aftenvards  the  Frenchmen  reached  France, 
and  raised  such  a  clamor  about  the  outrage  of  the 
Englishmen,  that  King  Henry  liberally  paid  for  their 
losses  from  his  own  i)Ui*se. 

The  next  English  expedition  to  the  Nortli-west  was 
planned  and  conducted  ])y  Martin  Frobisher,  a  native 
of  Yorkshire,  who  subsequently  distinguished  him- 
self by  naval  exploits  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
Frobisher  regarded  the  discoveiy  of  a  North-west 
passage  "  as  the  only  thing  of  the  world,  yet  left  un- 
done, whereby  a  notable  man  might  become  famous ;" 
and  for  fifteen  years  in  city  and  court  he  solicited  the 
means  for  undertaking  the  enteiiwise. 

With  three  small  vessels  (35,  30,  and  10  tons,) 
Frobisher,  on  the  8th  of  June  157G,  passed  Greenwich 
where  the  court  then  resided,  and  when  oiii)osite  the 
palace  fired  a  salute  in  honor  of  the  queen,  who  gazed 
at  the  fleet  from  the  window  and  waved  her  hand  to 
the  departing  explorei-s. 

Early  in  July,  Frobisher  saw  a  range  of  awful  and 
precipitous  summits,  which,  even  in  the  height  of  sum- 
mer, were  white  with  snow ;  this  was  the  southern 
point  of  Greenland.  He  then  steered  westward,  and 
experienced  a  severe  gale,  during  which  his  smallest 


DISCOVEKY    OF   "  META    INCOGNITA. 


61 


vessel  sunk  bpiientli  the  waves  with  nil  on  honnl. 
Ai)i>alle«l  ut  this  disaster  one  of  the  remaining  vessels 
turned  hack,  but  Frubisher  in  the  third  one  pushed 
forward,  and  on  the22d  of  July  reached  the  ice-bound 
coasts  of  Lal>rador.  Sailing  nortlnvard  he  came  in 
Auirust  to  more  accessible  land,  and  named  it  "  Meta 
Incognita." 

Seeing  seven  boats  plying  along  the  beach,  Frobisher 
sent  out  c»ne  of  his  own,  the  crew  of  which,  l>y  holding 
up  a  white  cloth,  induced  a  native  canoe  to  api)roach ; 
but  on  seeing  the  ship  the  people  immediately  turned 
back.  Frobisher  then  went  on  shoi'e,  and,  by  the  dis- 
tnbutiou  of  presents,  enticed  one  of  the  natives  on 
board.  This  person,  being  well  treated  with  food  and 
drink,  made  on  his  return  so  favorable  a  report,  that 
nineteen  followed  his  example. 

The  natives  were  next  day  more  shy.  and  Avith 
some  difficulty  one  of  them,  by  the  allurements  of  a 
bell,  was  draAvn  on  board.  Frol)isher,  ha\ing  no  in- 
tention to  detain  him,  sent  a  boat  with  fiAe  men  to 
put  him  on  shore  ;  but,  urged  by  curiosity,  they  went 
on  to  join  the  main  body  of  the  natives,  and  were 
never  allowed  to  return.  Afte:  spending  two  days 
firing  guns,  and  looking  for  the  missing  men,  Fro- 
bisher sailed  for  home,  where  he  arrived  in  October. 
Although  Frobisher  had  made  but  little  progress 
towards  a  western  passage,  his  voyage  was  considered 
highly  creditable,  and  interest  in  the  new  countiy 
was  greatly  excited  from  the  fact  that  a  large  shining 
stone,  which  Frobisher  had  brought  home  and  divid- 
ed among  his  friends,  was  pronounced  by  the  gold- 
smiths to  be  gold  ore.  A  new  exj)edition  of  three 
ships  was  immediately  organized ;  England  Avas  thro^^^l 
into  a  ferment  of  joy ;  and  Frobisher  being  invited 


Tl 


at 


I     : 


III    '': 


1 1 ' 


y\\ 


62 


FU0BIS1IEU8   8EC0ND   VOYAGE. 


to  visit  the  queen,  received  lier  hand  to  kiss,  with 
many  gracious  expressions. 

The  new  expedition  sailed  on  the  Sfith  of  IMay, 
1577  ;  on  the  8th  of  June  it  touched  at  the  Orkneys 
for  fresli  water.  The  poor  inhabitants,  having,  it  is 
pi'()l)al)le,  suffered  from  the  inroads  of  pirates,  ried 
from  tlieir  houses  with  cries  and  shrieks,  but  were 
soon,  by  courteous  treatment,  induced  to  retuin. 

Tlie  Englisli  now  entered  on  their  perilous  voyage 
through  the  northern  ocean,  during  which  they  were 
much  cheered  with  the  perpetual  light.  At  length 
they  touched  at  the  sound  or  deep  indentation 
of  ^\'uter8  known  as  Frobisher  Strait — afterwards 
said  to  be  a  sound,  and  recently  proved  such 
by  the  researches  of  the  late  Captain  Hall.  Tlie 
coast,  hoAvcver,  was  found  guarded  by  a  mighty  wall 
of  ice,  which  the  ships  could  not  penetrate ;  but  the 
captain,  with  two  of  his  boats,  worked  his  way  into 
the  sound,  and  began  to  surv^ey  the  country. 

So  oi'ude  were  then  the  ideas  respecting  the 
geography  of  these  regions,  that  they  imagined  the 
coast  on  their  left  to  be  America,  and  that  on  their 
right  Asia.  Landing  on  the  American  side  they 
8cramT)led  to  the  top  of  a  hill,  and  erected  a  column, 
which,  after  the  great  patron  of  the  expedition,  was 
called  Mount  AVarwick.  On  their  return,  cries  were 
heard  like  the  lowing  of  bulls,  and  a  large  body  of 
natives  ran  up  to  them  in  a  very  gay  and  cordial 
manner.  Tliey  began  an  eager  traffic  for  the  tiifling 
ornaments  displayed  by  their  ^^sitors,  yet  declined 
eveiy  invitation  to  go  on  board,  while  the  English  on 
their  part  did  not  choose  to  accede  to  their  overtures 
of  going  into  the  countr}'.  Frobisher  and  a  compan- 
,ion,  meeting  two  of  the  natives  apart,  i-ashly  seized 


i 


FIGIIT  Wrni   ESQUmACX. 


68 


and  began  dragging  tlieni  to  the  "boats,  hoping 
to  gain  their  friendwhip  by  presents  and  couilesy. 

On  the  HHi)peiy  giound,  however,  their  feet  gave  way, 
the  Es<iuiniaux  broke  loose,  and  fonnd  behind  a  rock 
their  bows  and  arrows,  which  they  began  to  discluirge 
with  great  fury.  Frobisher  and  his  comrade,  seized 
\nth  a  panic,  fled  full  speed,  and  the  former  reached 
the  boat  with  an  aiTow  sticking  in  his  leg.  The  crew, 
imagining  that  something  tiiily  serious  must  have 
driven  back  their  commander  in  such  discomfiture, 
gave  the  alarm,  and  ran  to  the  rescue.  The  Uvo  bar- 
barians  instantly  fled ;  but  one  of  them  was  caught 
and  taken  to  the  boat. 

Meantime  the  ships  outside  were  involved  in  a 
dreadful  tempest,  being  tossed  amid  those  tremendous 
ice-islands,  the  least  of  which  would  have  been  sufli- 
cient  to  have  crushed  them  into  a  thousand  pieces. 
To  avoid  dangers  ^\'hich  so  closely  beset  them,  they 
were  obliged  to  tack  fourteen  times  in  four  hours ; 
but  with  the  benefit  of  the  perpetual  light,  the  skill 
of  their  steersman,  and  the  aid  of  Providence,  they 
weathered  the  tempest,  without  the  necessity  oi  diiv- 
ing  out  to  sea  and  abandoning  the  boats.  On  the 
19th,  Frobisher  came  out  to  the  sliip  with  a  large 
store  of  glittering  stone ;  upon  which,  says  one  of  the 
adventurers,  "we  were  all  rapt  with  joy,  forgetting 
both  where  we  were  and  what  we  hatl  suffered.  Be- 
hold," he  continues,  "the  glory  of  man,  —  to-night 
looking  for  death,  to-moiTOw  devising  how  to  satisfy 
his  greedy  appetite  with  gold." 

A  north  west  gale  now  sprang  up ;  before  Avhich, 
like  magic,  the  mighty  barriers  of  ice  by  which  the 
ships  had  been  shut  out  melted  away.  They  had  now 
a  broad  and  open  passage  by  which  they  entered  the 


I. 


,r 


li 


64 


RELICS  OF  TILB  LOST  8AIL0BS. 


sound,  which  was  a  Btrnit  leading  into  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  In  a  run  of  upwards  of  thirty  leagues  they 
landed  at  different  points,  and,  mounting  to  tlie  tops 
of  liillrt,  took  possession  of  the  country  with  solemn 
and  sacred  ceremonies,  in  name  of  her  majesty. 

On  (piestioning  their  prisoner,  he  admitted  knowl- 
edge respecting  the  five  men  captured  in  the  ])receding 
year,  Lut  repelled  most  strenuously  the  signs  Ly  which 
the  English  intimated  their  belief  that  they  had  been 
killed  and  eaten.  However,  a  dark  source  of  suspicion 
was  soon  opened  ;  for  some  boats  of  the  natives  were 
foimd,  which,  along  with  bones  of  dogs,  flesh  of  un- 
known animals,  and  other  strange  things,  contained 
an  English  canvas  doublet,  a  shirt,  a  girdle,  three 
shoes  for  contrary  feet, — apparel  which,  beyond  all 
doubt,  belonged  to  their  countrymen  lost  in  the  pre- 
ceding year. 

Hoping  to  recover  them,  they  left  a  letter  in  the 
boat,  with  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and  a  party  of  forty, 
under  Charles  Jackman,  marched  inland  to  take  the 
natives  in  the  rear,  and  drive  them  upon  the  coast^ 
where  Frobisher  with  his  boats  Avaited  to  intercept 
them.  The  wretches  had  removed  their  tents  into 
the  interior ;  but  the  invaders,  after  marching  over 
several  mountains,  descried  a  cluster  of  huts,  ^hose 
inmates  hastened  to  their  canoes,  and  pushed  out  full 
speed  to  sea.  They  rowed  M'ith  a  rapidity  which 
would  have  baffled  all  pursuit,  had  not  Frobisher 
■with  his  boats  held  the  entrance  of  the  sound  and 
there  awaited  them. 

As  soon  as  the  Esquimaux  saw  themselves  thus 
beset,  they  landed  among  the  rocks,  abandoning  their 
skiffs.  The  English  nished  on  to  the  assault;  but 
the  natives,  stationed  on  the  rocks,  resisted  the  land- 


FK>fALF.  rnisoxEiw. 


06 


ing,  and  stood  their  ground  with  the  most  savage  and 
desperate  valor.  Overwliehned  with  clouds  of  ar- 
rows, th(;y  picked  them  up,  plucking  them  even  out 
of  their  bodies,  and  returned  them  with  fur}'.  On 
feeling  themselves  mortally  wounded,  they  plunged 
from  the  rocks  into  the  sea,  lest  they  should  fall  into 
the  hantls  of  the  conquerors. 

At  length,  completely  worsted,  and  having  lost  five 
or  six  of  their  number,  they  sprang  up  among  the 
cliffs  and  eluded  jmrsuit.  There  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  assailants  only  two  females,  who  caused  some 
speculation.  One  was  stricken  in  years,  and  present- 
ed a  v-isage  so  singularly  hideous,  that  her  moccasins 
were  j)ulled  oif  to  ascertain  if  she  was  not  the  gi-eat 
enemy  of  mankind  in  disguise.  The  other  female 
was  young,  with  a  child  in  her  arms ;  and  bf  Ing,  from 
her  peculiar  costume,  mistaken  for  a  man,  had  been 
fired  at  and  the  child  wounded.  It  was  in  vain  to 
apply  remedies ;  she  licked  off  with  her  tongue  the 
dressings  and  salves,  and  cured  it  in  her  own  way. 
She  and  the  male  captive  fonuerly  taken  appeared  to 
be  strangen?,  but  on  becoming  intimate  found  nuicli 
comfort  in  each  other's  society,  and  showed  a  strong 
mutual  attachment. 

Frol)isher  still  cherished  hopes  of  recovering  his 
men.  A  large  party  appearing  on  the  top  of  a  hill, 
signs  were  made  of  a  desire  ft)r  a  fi-iendly  interview. 
A  few  of  them  advanced,  and  were  introduce<l  to  the 
captives.  The  i)arties  M-ei-e  deeply  affected,  and  spent 
some  time  witlnrnt  uttering  a  Avord ;  tears  then  flowed ; 
and  when  they  at  last  found  speech,  it  was  in  tones 
of  tenderness  and  regret,  Avhich  prepossessed  the 
English  much  in  their  favor.  Frt)l)isher  noAv  came 
fonvard,  and  propounded  that  ou  condition  of  restor- 


If 

(  l. 


wmmm^mmmmmi 


:i     -ii 


¥'■ 


ll 


;i  '' 


■i  'I 


,1'  ^1 


66 


TKEACIIEilY   OF   THE   NATTVES. 


ing  his  five  men,  they  should  receive  back  their  own 
captives,  \nth  the  addition  of  sundry  of  those  little 
gifts  and  presents  on  which  they  set  the  highest  value. 
This  they  promised,  and  also  to  convey  a  letter  to  the 
prist)ners,  who  doubtless  at  this  time  were  not  alive. 

Afterward  three  men  appeared  holding  up  flags  of 
bladder,  inviting  the  invaders  to  approach ;  but  the 
latter,  who  saw  the  heads  of  others  peeping  from  be- 
hind the  rocks,  resolved  to  proceed  with  th,e  utmost 
caution.  The  natives  began  by  placing  in  vieAV  large 
pieces  of  excellent  meat ;  and  when  their  enemy  could 
not  be  caught  by  that  bait,  a  man  advanced  very  close, 
feigning  lameness,  and  seeming  to  offer  himself  an 
easy  prey.  Frobisher  allowed  a  shot  to  be  fired,  by 
which  the  person  was  cured  at  once,  and  took  to  his 
heels.  Seeing  all  their  artifices  fail,  the  barbarians 
determined  upon  main  force,  and  pouring  down  to 
the  number  of  a  hundred,  discharged  their  arrows 
with  great  rapidity.  They  even  followed  a  consider- 
able way  along  the  coast,  regardless  of  the  English 
shot ;  but  the  boats  were  too  distant  from  the  shore 
to  suffer  the  slightest  annoyance.  Several  of  the  sea- 
men importuned  Frobisher  to  allow  them  to  land  and 
attack;  but  this  he  refused,  as  only  calculated  to 
divert  them  from  the  main  object,  and  to  cause  useless 
bloodshed. 

The  21st  of  August  had  now  arrived,  the  ice  was 
beginning  to  form  around  the  ships,  and,  though  little 
progress  had  been  made  towards  China,  the  seamen 
had  put  on  board  two  hundred  tons  of  the  precious 
ore.  They  therefore  mounted  the  highest  hill,  fired  a 
volley  in  honor  of  the  Countess  of  Warwick,  and 
made  their  way  home. 

!N'ot^vithstanding  the  vicissitudes  which  had  marked 


FROniSIIER's   TIIIKD   EXPEDITION. 


67 


this  voyage,  its  arrival  was  hailed  with  the  utmost 
exultation.  Enthusiasm  and  hope,  both  with  the 
queen  and  the  nation,  rose  higher  than  ever.  The 
delusion  of  the  golden  ore  continued  in  full  force,  and 
caused  those  desolate  shores  to  be  regarded  as  another 
Peru.  Special  commissioners,  men  of  judgment,  art, 
and  skill,  were  named  by  her  majesty  to  ascertain 
both  the  quality  of  the  ore  and  the  prospects  of  the 
voyage  to  India.  After  due  inquiiy,  a  most  favoralde 
report  was  made  on  both  subjects,  and  it  was  recom- 
mended not  only  that  a  new  expedition  on  a  great 
scale  should  be  fitted  out,  but  a  colony  established  on 
that  remote  coasi;,  who  might  at  once  be  placed  in  full 
possession  of  its  treasures,  and  be  on  the  watch  for 
evciy  opportunity  of  farther  discovery. 

To  brave  the  ^\-inter  of  the  Polar  world  was  a  novel 
and  daring  enterprise ;  yet  such  was  then  the  national 
spirit,  that  the  appointed  number  of  a  hundred  was 
quickly  filled  up.  There  were  forty  mai'iners,  thirty 
miners,  and  thirty  soldiers,  in  which  last  number  were 
oddly  included,  not  only  gentlemen,  but  gold-finers, 
bakers,  and  carpenters.  Materials  were  sent  on  board 
the  vessels,  which,  on  being  put  together,  might  be 
converted  into  a  fort  or  house.  The  squadron  fitted 
out  was  the  largest  that  had  yet  adventured  to  plough 
the  northern  deep.  It  consisted  of  fifteen  vessels, 
furnished  by  various  ports,  especially  by  those  of  the 
west,  and  the  rendezvous  tt)ok  place  at  IIal•^vich  on 
the  27th  May,  1578,  whence  they  sailed  on  the  31st. 
The  captains  waited  on  the  queen  at  Greenwich,  and 
were  personally  addressed  by  her  in  the  most  gracious 
manner ;  Frobisher  receiviug  a  chain  of  gold,  and  the 
honor  of  kissing  her  majesty's  hand. 

It  is  notorious  that  expeditious  got  up  on  the  great- 


M 


I' 


I 


l:i:  I 


i' 


68 


THE  FLEET  m  A   STORM. 


est  scale,  and  ■\vitli  tbe  most  ample  means,  usually 
prove  the  most  unfortunate.  On  reacliing  tlie  open, 
ing  of  Frobisher's  Strait,  the  navigators  found  it 
frozen  over  from  side  to  side,  and  barred,  as  it  were, 
with  successive  walls,  mountains,  and  bulwarks.  A 
strong  easterly  wind  had  driven  numerous  icebergs 
upon  the  coast,  and  hence  the  navigation  amid  these 
huge  moving  bodies  soon  became  most  perilous.  The 
Dennis,  a  large  vessel,  on  board  of  which  was  part  of 
the  projected  house,  received  such  a  tremendous  blow 
from  a  mountain  of  ice,  that  it  went  down  instantly, 
though  the  other  ships,  hastening  to  its  aid,  succeeded 
in  saving  the  men.  This  spectacle  struck  panic  into 
the  other  crews,  who  felt  that  the  same  fate  might 
next  moment  be  their  own. 

The  danger  was  much  augmented  when  the  gale 
increased  to  a  tempest,  and  the  icy  masses,  tossing  in 
every  direction,  stmck  the  vessels  fuiiously.  In- 
vention was  now  variously  at  work  to  find  means 
of  safety.  Some  moored  themselves  to  these  floating 
islands,  and  being  carried  about  along  with  them, 
escaped  the  outrageous  blows  which  they  must  other- 
wise have  encountered.  Others  held  suspended  by 
the  sides  of  the  ship  oars,  planks,  pikes,  poles,  every- 
thing by  which  the  violence  of  the  shocks  miglit  be 
broken  ;  yet  the  ice,  "  aided  by  the  surging  of  the  sea 
and  billow,"  was  seen  to  break  in  pieces  planks  three 
inches  thick.  Frobisher  considers  it  as  redounding 
highly  to  the  glory  of  his  poor  miners  and  landsmen, 
wholly  unused  to  such  a  scene,  that  they  faced  with 
heroism  the  assembled  dangers  that  besieged  them 
round.  "  JLt  length,  it  pleased  God  with  his  eyes  of 
mercy  to  look  down  from  heaven," — a  brisk  south- 
west wind  dispersed  the  ice,  and  gave  them  an  open 
sea  through  which  to  navigate. 


THE    EXPEDITION   ASTRAY. 


69 


After  a  few  days  spent  in  repairing  the  vessels,  and 
stopping  u})  tlie  leaks,  Frobisher  bent  afresh  all  his 
efforts  to  penetrate  inward  to  the  spot  where  he  \vas 
to  found  his  colony.  After  considerable  effort,  he 
made  his  way  into  a  strait,  when  he  discovered  that 
he  was  sailing  between  two  coasts;  but  amid  the 
gloomy  mists,  and  the  thick  snow  which  fell  in  this 
northern  midsummer,  nothing  could  be  distinctly 
seen.  As,  however,  clear  intervals  occasionally  oc- 
curred, affording  i)artial  glimpses  of  the  laud,  the 
surmise  arose  that  this  was  not  the  shore  along  ^vhich 
they  had  formerly  sailed.  Frobisher  would  not  listen 
to  a  suirirestion  Avhich  would  have  convicted  him  of 
ha\ing  thrown  away  much  of  his  time  and  labor. 
He  still  i)ressed  onward.  Once  ihe  nuirinere  imagined 
they  saw  Mount  AVarwick,  but  were  soon  undeceived. 
At  length,  the  chief  pilot  stood  up  and  declared,  in 
hearing  of  all  the  crew,  that  he  never  saw  this  coast 
before. 

Frobisher  still  persevered,  sailing  along  a  country 
more  p()i)ulous,  more  verdant,  and  better  stocked  with 
birds,  than  the  one  formerly  visited.  In  fact,  this 
was  i)robably  the  main  entrance  into  Hudson's  Bay, 
by  continuing  in  which  he  would  have  made  the  most 
impoi-tant  discoveries.  But  all  his  ideas  of  mineral 
wealth  and  successful  i)assage  were  associated  Avith 
the  old  strait ;  and,  on  being  obliged  to  own  that  this 
Avas  a  different  one,  he  turned  back  to  the  open  sea. 
In  this  retreat  the  fleet  was  so  involved  in  fogs  and 
violent  currents,  and  so  l)eset  with  rocks  and  isl.-uuls, 
that  the  sailors  considered  it  only  by  a  special  inter- 
position of  Providence  that  they  were  brought  out  in 
safety. 

When  they  had  reached  the  open  sea,  and  arrived 
5 


1 

!   If 

1 

I  ' 

'i! 

■ 

1''   ''  i 

i       ; 

i 

1 

if 

1 

•'. 


ill 


'ii ' 


I'l  1 


70 


THE   COLONY   PKOJECT   ABANDONED. 


at  the  mouth  of  the  desired  strait,  it  was  almost  as 
difficult  to  find  an  entrance.  However,  FroLisher 
was  constantly  on  the  watch,  and  wherever  there 
ai)i^eured  any  opening,  it  is  said  "he  g<^t  in  at  one  gap 
and  out  at  another,"  till  at  length  he  reached  his  pur- 
posed haven.  Before,  however,  the  crews  Avere  com* 
jiletely  landed  and  established,  the  9th  of  August 
had  come,  thick  snows  were  falling,  and  it  behooved 
them  to  hold  a  solemn  constdtation  as  to  the  2)ros- 
pects  of  the  2)rojected  colony.  There  remained  of 
the  house  only  the  materials  of  the  south  and  east 
sides,  a  great  part  of  the  bread  had  been  sj^oiled,  and 
there  was  no  adequate  provision  for  a  hundred  men 
during  a  whole  yrar. 

Renouncing  the  idea  of  settlement,  FroT)isher  still 
ashed  his  captains  whether  they  might  not,  dui-ing 
the  short  remaining  intei"val,  attempt  some  discovery 
to  throw  a  redeeming  lustre  on  this  luckless  voyage  ; 
but,  in  reply,  they  urged  the  advanced  season,  the 
symptoms  of  ^vinter  already  approaching,  and  the 
danger  of  being  enclosed  in  these  narrow  inlets, 
where  they  would  be  in  the  most  innninent  danger  of 
perishing ; — in  short,  that  nothing  was  now  to  be 
thought  of  but  a  speedy  return  homeward.  This 
was  effected,  not  without  the  dispersion  of  the  fleet, 
and  considerable  damage  to  some  of  the  vessels. 

The  failure  of  successive  attempts,  and  es])ecially 
of  one  got  up  with  so  much  cost,  produced  its  natu- 
ral effect  in  England.  Tlie  glittering  stone,  which 
was  to  have  converted  this  noi-them  Meta  into  anoth- 
er Peru,  was  never  more  heard  of ;  a  few  careful 
assays  having  established  its  utter  insignificance. 
Frobisher  strongly  advocated  another  voyage  to  the 
North-west,  but  without  success,  and  was  obliged  to 


Sl'BSEQUENT    LIFE    OF    FEOBISIIER. 


7t 


seek  in  other  climates  employment  for  his  daring  and 
active  spirit.  lie  accompanied  Sir  Francis  Drake  to 
tlie  West  Indies,  and  commanded  one  of  the  largest 
ships  in  the  armament  which  opposed  the  Spanish 
armada,  lighting  with  such  bravery,  that  lie  was 
decorated  with  the  honors  of  knighthood.  Being 
afterward  sent  to  assist  Henry  IV.  against  the  League, 
and  employed  in  the  attack  of  a  small  fort  on  the 
coast  of  France,  he  received  a  wound  which  proved 
fatal  in  Novend)er,  1504. 

The  "  IMeta  Incognita  "  or  "  unknown  land  "  discov- 
ered  by  Frobisher,  lies  between  Hudson's  Strait  and 
Frobisher's  Strait.  Capt.  Hall  passed  the  period  of 
his  first  visit  to  the  north  in  this  vicinity,  and  found 
many  relics,  as  he  supposes,  of  the  Frobisher  expedi. 
tion. 

Sh"  Humphrey  Gilbert,  a  man  of  high  character 
both  as  a  soldier  and  civilian,  had  been  mucli  inter- 
ested  in  the  voyages  of  his  countrymen,  and  in  1573 
he  obtained  from  Elizabeth  a  patent  confeiring  sole 
jurisdiction  over  a  large  tenitorj'^  in  America,  (^n  con- 
dition that  he  should  plant  a  colony  there  within  six 
years.  His  haK-brother,  Sir  Walter  lialeigh  was  also 
engaged  in  the  enterprise. 

In  1583,  Sir  Humphrey  set  out  vnth  a  fleet  of  five 
vessels,  but  one  of  them  put  back  on  account  of  sick- 
ness. On  reaching  St.  John's  harbor,  Ne^v  Found- 
land,  Sir  Humphrey  summoned  some  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  fishermen  there,  to  -svitness  the  ceremony 
of  taking  possession  in  the  name  of  the  English  sov- 
ereign, an  operation  which  he  performed  by  digging 
a  turf,  and  setting  up  a  pillar  to  which  the  arms  of 
England  were  affixed.  Silver  ore,  as  they  supposed, 
was  discovered  and  taken  on  board  the  vessels,  one 


t 


m 


!«t- 


il 


1 

1' 

I 

PI 

i        1. 
i:    -M 

■( 

i  1 

i 

1 

>   I 


^;  .ilflii 


ra 


LOSS    OF   TIIE    "squirrel." 


of  -wliicli  was  jibamlc^ned,  wliile  with  the  remainder 
Sir  Iliiiuplirey  pursued  liis  voyaire  along  tlie  eoiust 
towards  tlie  south.  On  liis  war,  the  largest  remain- 
ing  sliip  with  its  ore  was  wrecked,  and  a  hundred 
souls  perished. 

Iveturn  Avas  now  considered  necessary,  and  in  the 
midst  of  teirible  stt)rms  and  temi)ests,  the  prows 
were  turned  homeward.  8ir  Humphrey  had  chosen 
to  sail  in  a  little  tender,  called  tlie  8(piirrel,  and  when 
the  storm  came  on  he  was  urwd  to  shift  his  flau:  to 
a  larger  vessel.     But  he  refused  to  do  so,  savinu:: 

"  1  will  not  desert  my  little  company,  Avith  whom 
I  have  passed  so  many  storms  and  perils." 

The  <i:ale  increased  ;  liixhts  Mere  burned  at  niirht, 
and  the  little  S({uirrel,  for  a  long  time,  was  seen  gal- 
Lmtly  contending  with  the  waves.  Once  she  came 
so  near  another  ship  that  its  ofHcei's  could  see  Sir 
Humphrey  sitting  by  the  mainmast,  with  a  book  in 
his  hand,  reading,  lie  looked  uj),  and  cried  cheerily, 
"AVe  are  as  near  to  Heaven  by  sea  as  by  land." 
About  midniglit,  all  at  once,  the  lights  were  extin- 
guished ;  and  in  the  morning  nothing  was  seen  of  the 
good  Sir  Humphrey  or  his  little  ship. 

In  1585  the  spirit  of  discovery  was  again  roused. 
Merchants  of  London  fitted  out  two  vessels,  the  Sun- 
shine and  Moonshine,  wliich  Avere  placed  under  the 
connnand  of  John  Davis,  a  determined  seaman,  en- 
dowed with  much  courtesy  and  good  humor,  by  Avhich 
he  was  likely  to  render  himself  acceptable  to  the  rude 
natives  of  those  inhospitable  shores :  to  promote 
which  laudable  purpose,  he  was  provided  not  only 
with  a  supply  of  the  trifling  gifts  suited  to  their  taste, 
but  with  a  band  of  music  to  cheer  and  recreate  tlieir 
spirits. 


tan  LAM)  01'   UtSOl^TlUN. 


muiUIITKI)    lUUOKRO. 


Ill 


>%;    Mf 


:!iii>' 


iiil 


.!•     '     i 


THE   "land   of  desolation." 


75 


Davia  sailed  on  the  7th  of  June,  1585.  On  the  10th 
of  July,  as  the  seamen  approached  (lie  Arctic  houndary, 
they  heard,  amid  a  calm  sea  Ije.set  with  thick  mist,  a 
mighty  roann;.;,  as  of  the  waves  dashing  on  a  rocky 
shore.  The  captain  and  master  pushed  oil  in  the 
boat  to  examine  this  supposed  Leach,  hut  were  mucli 
8ur])rised  to  find  themselves  involved  amid  numei'(>us 
icebergs,  while  all  this  noise  had  been  caused  by  the 
rolling  and  beating  of  these  masses  against  each  other. 
Next  day  they  came  in  view  of  Greenland,  ^vh^ch 
appeared  the  most  dreary  and  desolate  ev(!r  seen  ; 
"deformed,  rocky,  and  mountainous,  like  a  sugar-loaf, 
standing  to  our  sight  above  the  clouds.  It  towered 
above  the  fog  like  a  white  list  in  the  sky,  the  tops 
altogether  covered  with  snow,  the  shore  beset  A\ith 
ice,  making  such  irksome  noise  that  it  was  called  the 
IadkI  of  lAsohtti'on." 

After  sailing  for  several  days  along  this  dreary 
shore,  Davis  pushed  out  north-westward  into  the  open 
sea,  hoping  in  "  God's  mercy  to  find  our  desired  j)as- 
sage."  On  the  29th  he  came  in  view  of  a  land  in  G4° 
north  latitude,  which  was  still  only  Greenland ;  ])ut 
as  the  wind  was  unfavorable  for  proceeding  westward, 
the  air  temperate,  and  the  coast  free  from  ice,  he  re- 
solved to  go  on  shore  and  take  a  view  of  ths  countiy 
and  people.  In  the  company  of  two  others,  he  landed 
on  an  island,  leaving  directions  for  the  rest  to  follow 
as  soon  as  they  should  hear  any  loud  signal.  The 
party  mounted  the  top  of  a  rock,  whence  they  -svere 
espied  In"  the  natives,  who  raised  a  lamentable  noise, 
with  loud  outcries  like  the  howling  of  wolves.  Davis 
and  his  comrades  hereupon  struck  up  a  high  note,  so 
modulated,  that  it  might  at  once  be  alluring  to  the 
natives,  and  might  summon  his  own  crew  to  deeds 


:« 


¥1T 


t   Wl     til 

1' 


'1 


1    i  : 


|l    ; 


I  i; 


iffli 


iM'f 


li 


I'l       .  'H 


7G 


A   OllEENLANI)    DANCF- 


»> 


either  of  courtesy  or  valor.  Burton,  tlie  iimst(;r,  n\u\ 
othern,  luistened,  "vvt'll  armed,  yet  with  tlie  hand  of 
inuHic  ])hiying,  and  dancing  to  it  with  tlie  most  invit- 
ing nigns  of  friendship. 

In  accordance  witli  this  gay  summons,  ton  canoes 
luistened  from  the  otlu'r  ishinds,  and  tlie  people 
crowded  round  the  strangers,  uttering  in  a  hollow 
voice  unintelligible  simnds.  The  English  continued 
their  friendly  salutations,  while  the  other  ]>ai'ty  still 
showed  jealousy,  till  at  length  one  of  them  began 
pointing  towards  the  sun  and  beating  his  breast. 
These  signs  being  returned  by  John  Ellis,  master  of 
the  IMoonshine,  the  natives  were  induced  to  a])i)roach; 
anil  being  presented  with  caps,  stockings,  gloves,  etc., 
and  continuing  to  be  hailed  with  music  and  dancing, 
their  fears  gave  place  to  the  most  cordial  amity. 

Next  day  there  appeared  thirty+;even  canoes,  the 
people  from  which  kindly  invited  the  English  on 
shore,  showing  eager  impatience  at  their  dela}'.  Dji- 
vis  manned  his  boats  and  went  to  them  ;  one  of  them 
shook  hands  with  him,  and  kissed  his  hand,  and  the 
two  parties  became  extremely  familiar.  The  natives 
paiied  with  every  thing,  the  clothes  from  off  their 
backs,  their  buskins  of  well-dressed  leather,  their 
darts,  oars,  and  five  canoes,  accepting  cheerfully  In 
return  whatever  their  new  visitors  chose  to  present. 

Davis  next  steered  directly  across  the  strait,  or 
rather  sea,  which  still  bears  his  oAvn  name.  On  the  6th 
of  August  he  discovered  high  land,  which  he  named 
Mount  Raleigh,  being  part  of  Cumberland  Island. 
Here,  anchoring  in  a  fine  road,  the  seamen  saw  three 
white  animals,  which  seemed  to  be  goats.  Desirous 
of  fresh  -victuals  and  sport,  they  pursued  them,  but 
discovered  instead  three  monstrous  white  bears. 


VOYAGE    WITH    THE   MKUMAID. 


If 


Davis,  nfter  oonflting  al)oiit  for  some  days,  again 
found  liiins«']f  at  tlie  t-ajK'  \vliicli  lie  had  at  first  reach- 
ed on  his  tTOHHing  from  tlie  ()|)i»oHite  shore  of  Green- 
land. Tills  promontory,  wliii'li  lie  called  (lod's  Mercy, 
he  now  turned,  when  he  f(»und  himself  in  a  sound 
stivtcliing  north-westward,  twenty  or  thirty  leagues 
})road.  After  ascending  it  sixty  leagues,  he  found  an 
island  in  the  mid-channel.  About  the  end  of  August, 
however,  heing  involved  in  fogs  and  contraiy  winds, 
he  determined  to  suspend  operations  for  the  season 
and  return  to  England. 

On  one  of  the  islands  in  this  sound  the  seamen 
heard  dogs  howling,  and  saw  twenty  a])i)roach,  of 
wolf-like  ai)pearance,  but  in  most  peaceful  guise.  Im- 
pressed, however,  with  the  idea  that  only  animals  of 
])rey  could  be  found  on  these  shores,  they  fired  and 
killed  two,  round  (mc  of  whose  necks  they  found  a 
collar,  and  soon  after  discovered  the  sledge  to  which 
he  had  been  yoked. 

Davis  sailed  on  a  second  expedition  on  t\te  7th  of 
May  158(3  with  his  two  former  vessels,  and  another 
one  called  the  Mermaid.  On  the  21)th  of  June  he 
reached  the  scene  of  his  former  visit  in  Greenland. 
The  natives  came  out  in  tlieir  canoes  at  first  with 
shouts  and  cries;  but,  recognizing  their  companions 
of  the  former  year,  they  hastened  forward,  and  hung 
round  the  vessel  with  every  expression  of  Joy  and 
welcome. 

Davis,  seeing  them  in  such  favorable  disposi- 
tions, went  ashore  and  distiibuted  y)resents.  The 
most  intimate  acquaintance  was  now^  begun ;  yet 
they  never  met  the  strangers  anew  -without  crying, 
"Iliaout!"  beating  their  breasts  and  lifting  their 
hands  to  the  sun,  by  which  a  fresh  treaty  was  ratified. 


t 


I. 


H, 


h 


illfi 


I  li' 


>  .Jill 


ilii  J 


li    i 


78 


ESQUIMAUX    IN0ANTATI0N8, 


The  two  parties  aimiHed  tljenmelves  by  contests  in 
bodily  exercises.  The  Ksiiuiniaux  coukl  not  match 
their  opponents  in  heaping ;  but  in  wrestling  they 
showed  themselves  strong  and  skillful,  and  threw 
some  of  the  best  English  wrestlers.  By  degrees  tliey 
began  to  manifest  less  laudable  (jualities.  'Jlicy  exer- 
cised many  and  solemn  incantations,  though,  Davis 
thanks  God,  without  any  etl'ect.  They  kindled  a  iii'e 
by  rubbing  two  sticks  against  each  other,  and  invited 
hhii  to  pass  through  it;  but  he,  in  contempt  of  their 
sorcery,  caused  the  fire  to  be  trodden  out  and  the 
embers  thrown  into  the  sea. 

Tlie  natives,  however,  soon  began  to  show  less 
amiable  traits,  and  finally  reached  the  highest  pitch  of 
audacity.  Tliey  stole  a  spear,  a  gun,  a  sword,  cut  the 
cables  and  even  the  INIoonshine's  boat  from  her  steru. 
The  leading  pers»)nages  of  the  crew  remonstrated  with 
Davis,  that  for  their  security  he  must  "  dissolve  this 
new  fi'iendship,  and  leave  the  compaiiy  of  the  thiev- 
ish miscreants."  Davis  fired  two  pieces  over  their 
hemls,  which  "  did  sore  amaze  them,"  and  they  fled 
precipitately  ;  but  in  ten  liours  they  again  appeared 
\vith  many  promises  and  presents  of  skins ;  when,  on 
seeing  iron,  "they  could  in  nowise  forbear  stealing." 
The  commander  was  amiin  besiejjed  with  the  com- 
plaints  of  his  crcAV ;  however,  "  it  only  ministered  to 
him  an  occasi(m  of  laughter,"  and  lie  told  his  men  to 
look  out  for  their  goods,  and  not  to  dejil  hardly  with 
the  natives,  who  could  scarcely  be  expected  in  so 
short  a  time  "  to  know  their  evils." 

Davis  now  undertook  an  e  pedition  into  the  inte- 
rior, lie  sailed  up  Avhat  appeared  a  broad  river,  but 
which  proved  only  a  strait  or  creek.  A  violent  gust 
of  wind  having  obliged  him  to  seek  the  shelter  of 


AX    KXPKIMTION   TO    TIIK    INTKUIOU. 


70 


llli^. 


iite- 
biit 

TfllSt 

of 


knd,  lie  attempted  to  ascend  a  very  lofty  peuk;  but 
"the  inountaiurt  were  so  many  and  Hi)  mii^lity,  that 
his  nnriMKse  pn^vailed  not."  AVhile  the  men  were 
L'atliei'ing  muscles  for  su[)])er,  lie  was  anuised  )»y  vi«;w- 
inf^  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  a  water-spout,  which 
he  describes  tus  a  mighty  whirlwind  taking  up  the 
water  and  whirling  it  round  for  three  houi-s  without 
intermission. 

During  the  captain's  absence  matters  had  become 
worse  with  the  Es(piimaux ;  they  had  stolen  an  an- 
chor, cut  the  cable,  and  even  thrown  stones  of  half  a 
pound  weight  against  the  Moonshine.  Davis  invited 
a  part}'  of  them  on  board,  made  them  various  little 
presents,  taught  them  to  run  to  the  tojmiast,  and  dis- 
missed them  apparently  (piite  pleased.  Yet  no  sooner 
had  the  sun  set  than  they  began  to  "  practise  their 
devilish  nature,"  and  threw  stones  into  the  IMoonshine, 
one  of  which  knocked  down  the  boatswain.  The 
captain's  meek  spirit  was  at  length  kindled  to  Avratli, 
and  he  gave  full  warrant  for  two  boats  to  cluise  the 
culprits  ;  Init  they  rowed  so  swiftly  that  the  pursuers 
returned  with  small  content. 

Two  days  after,  five  natives  presented  themselves 
with  uvertui'es  f(jr  a  fresli  truce  ;  but  the  master  came 
to  Davis,  remonstrating  that  one  of  them  Avas  "  (he 
chief  ringleader,  a  nuister  of  mischief,"  and  w  ;h  xvhe- 
ment  not  to  let  him  go.  lie  was  made  c;ipti\e,  and, 
a  fair  wind  suddenly  springing  up,  the  English  set 
sail,  and  carried  him  aAvay,  many  doh^ful  signs  being 
then  exc.'lianged.  between  him  and  one  of  his  comitry- 
men ;  hoAvever,  on  being  well  treated,  and  presented, 
with  a  new  suit  of  frieze,  his  spirits  rcvi\-ed,  he  be- 
came a  pleasant  companion,  and  used  occasionally  to 
assist  the  sailors. 


M 


, 


1 


Hi  i 


it 


I ; 


if  '  i 
I,  .li 

.1'      K;|  HI: 


1 

'I    - 
j 

i 

iji' 
ii 

1 

80 


DAVIS   WARNED    BY    HIS    SAILORS. 


Oil  the  17tli  of  July  tlie  mariners  descried  a  land 
diversilied  with  hills,  bays,  and  capes,  and  extending 
farther  than  the  eye  could  reach  ;  but  "what  was  their 
horror  on  approaching,  to  And  that  it  Avas  only  "  a 
most  mighty  and  strange  (piantity  of  ice !"  It  was, 
in  fact,  that  great  barrier  known  as  the  Middle  Pack. 

As  they  coasted  along  this  mighty  field,  a  fog  came 
on,  by  \vhich  the  rojies,  shrouds,  and  sails  A\ere  all 
fast  frozen, — a  phenomena  which,  on  the  24th  of  July, 
api)eared  more  than  strange.  Dismayed  by  these  ob- 
servations, the  seamen  considered  the  passage  hope- 
less, and,  in  a  respectful  yet  firm  tone,  warned  Davis, 
that  by  "his  over-boldness  he  might  cause  their 
wi(Unv-s  and  fatherless  children  to  give  him  bitter 
curses." 

Davis  was  willing  to  consider  their  case;  yet, 
anxious  not  to  abandon  so  great  an  enterprise,  he  de- 
tei'inined  to  leave  behind  him  the  Mermaid,  and  to 
push  on  in  iLe  Moonshine  with  the  boldest  part  of  his 
crew.  Having  found  a  favorable  breeze,  he  at  last, 
on  the  1st  of  August,  turned  the  ice,  and  in  Lit.  ()C)° 
3;V  reached  land  ;  along  Avhich  he  now  coasted  south- 
Avard  for  about  ten  degrees,  entangled  among  a  num- 
ber of  islands,  and  missing,  in  his  progress,  tiie  inlets 
to  Hudson's  Bay.  On  the  coast  of  Labrador,  five 
men  Avho  landed  were  beset  by  the  natives,  and  two 
of  them  killed  and  two  wounded.  Davis  then  re- 
turned to  England. 

Throusjjh  the  influence  of  his  friend  Mr.  Sanderson, 
Davis  sailed  on  a  third  exj>edition  with  the  Sunshine, 
the  Elizabeth,  and  a  pinnace,  and  on  the  lOth  of  June, 
1587,  arrived  among  his  old  friends  on  the  coast  of 
Greenland.  The  natives  received  him  as  before  Avith 
the  cry  of  illaout  and  the  exhibition  of  skins,  but  lost 


to 
liis 
ast, 

Vltll- 

um- 
ets 
ive 
wo 
I'e- 

•;on, 
iiie, 
me, 
of 
•itli 
Lost 


m     W< 

■  m 

III 

I  ' ! ''  1 

il  '  i  ^  1 


!t 


::\     I' 


!tf    ' 


!    I 


I 


I     I 


1 

|j   ;    .:|| 

? 

1 

Ir 

1 

j 

ll 

r 

ii  i 


DESEKTIOX    OF   TWO    SIITPS. 


no  time  in  tlie  renewal  of  their  former  system  of 
tliieving. 

It  was  now  arranged  that  the  two  large  vessels 
should  remain  to  tish,  while  Davis  in  the  pin- 
nace should  stretch  out  into  a  higher  latitude  witli  a 
view  to  discoveiy.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan  he 
took  his  departure,  and,  continuing  to  range  the 
coast  to  the  northward,  on  the  28th  he  reached  a  point 
which  he  named  Sanderson's  Hope,  in  upwards  of 
^S'',  still  finding  a  wide  open  sea  to  the  west  and 
north.  Here,  the  wind  having  shifted,  Davis  resolv- 
ed to  hold  on  a  western  tack  across  this  sea,  and 
proceeded  for  f  rty  leagues  without  sight  of  land  or 
any  other  obstruction,  when  he  was  arrested  by  tlie 
usual  barrier  of  an  immense  bank  of  ice.  Tempted 
by  an  apparent  opening,  Davis  involved  himself  in  a 
bay  of  ice,  and  was  obliged  to  wait  the  moment 
when  the  sea  beating  and  the  sun  shining  on  this 
mighty  mass  should  effect  its  dissolution. 

At  length,  on  the  lOtli  of  July,  he  came  in  view 
of  Mount  Ilaleigh,  and  at  midnight  found  himself 
at  the  mouth  of  the  inlet  discovered  in  the  first  voy- 
age, and  Avhich  has  since  been  called  Cumberland 
Strait.  Next  day  he  sailed  across  its  entrance,  and 
in  the  two  following  days  ascended  its  northern  shore, 
till  he  was  again  involved  among  numerous  islands. 
lie  now  concluded  this  strait  to  be  an  enclosed  gulf, 
and  retreated  alone:  the  southern  shore.  He  now 
crossed  the  mouth  of  an  extensive  gulf,  in  one  part  of 
which  his  vessel  was  carried  along  by  a  violent  cur- 
rent, while  in  another  the  water  was  whirling  and 
roarinc:  as  is  usual  at  the  meetinj?  of  tides.  This  was 
evidently  tlie  grand  entrance  to  Hudson's  Bay. 

Davis  now  hastened  to  the  point  of  rendezvous 


i:i 


84 


SUBSEQUENT   CAREER    OF   DAVIS. 


':  S'       I  . 


fixed  with  the  two  other  vessels ;  but,  to  ]jis  deep  dis- 
appointment and  just  indignation,  he  found  tliat  they 
had  departed.  It  was  not  without  hesitation  that, 
with  his  small  stock  of  provisions  he  ventured  to  sail 
for  England ;  but  he  arrived  safely. 

Davis  had  succeeded  in  reaching  a  much  higher  lati- 
tude than  any  former  navigator,  and,  \vith  the  excep- 
tion of  the  barrier  of  ice  on  one  side,  had  found  the 
sea  open,  blue,  of  vast  extent,  and  unfathomable 
depth,  lie  considered,  therefore,  that  the  success  of 
a  spirited  attempt  was  almost  infallible.  But  three 
failures  had  exhausted  all  interest  in  the  subject,  and 
the  invasion  by  the  Spanish  Armada  which  soon 
followed,  engaged  for  a  season  all  the  energies  of  the 
nation. 

Davis  tried  in  vain  to  procure  means  for  another 
Arctic  Ex})edition.  He  subsecpiently  made  several 
vo}'ages  to  the  East  Indies,  in  the  service  of  the 
Dutch,  and  was  killed  during  a  fight  with  Japanese 
pirates  on  the  coast  of  Malacca  in  1605. 


i 


iK?' 


t        fill    1.1 


■'\  i 


CHAPTER  VI. 


ARCTIC  VOYAGES  OF  WEYMOUTH,  KNIGHT, 
AND  HUDSON. 

In  1602,  the  Muscovy  Company  and  the  Levant 
Company  united  in  new  efforts  for  a  North-west  route, 
and  sent  out  George  Weymouth  with  two  vessels,  the 
Discovery  and  Goodspeed,  which  sailed  on  the  2d 
of  May. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  Weymouth  came  in  view  of  a 
snow-clad  promontory  on  the  American  coast.  The 
vessels  were  tossed  to  and  fro  by  violent  currents  and 
involved  in  thick  fogs,  and  they  came  quite  near  to 
an  iceberg  on  which  some  of  the  crew  landed.  Hear- 
ing a  great  sound  like  the  dashing  of  waves  on  the 
shore,  they  approached  it,  and  were  dismayed  to  find 
it  "  the  noise  of  a  great  quantity  of  ice,  which  was 
very  loathsome  to  be  heard."  The  mist  became  so 
thick,  that  they  could  not  see  two  ships'  length,  and 
on  attempting  to  take  down  the  sails,  they  were  aston- 
ished to  find  them  so  fast  frozen  to  the  riijorins:  that 
in  "this  chief  est  time  of  summer  they  could  not  be 
moved."  Next  day  they  renewed  the  attempt ;  but  it 
was  only  by  cutting  away  the  ice  from  the  ropes  that 
they  could  be  made  to  move  through  the  blocks. 
The  following  day  the  fog  lay  so  thick  and  froze  so 

85 


li'V  i» 


f 
i-  iir  ^ 


86 


A   COWARDLY   CHEW. 


iiil   '■ 


I    . 


■M     ; 


ii 


h 


i  m m\ 


W\     1 


1 1 


fast,  that  ropes,  sails,  and  rigging  remained  irainoval)le. 
These  plienoraena  produced  a  disastrous  effect  on 
the  minds  of  the  sailors,  who  began  to  hold  secret 
conferences,  ending  in  a  consj)iracy  "  to  bear  up  the 
helm  for  England."  It  was  proposed  to  seize  Wey- 
mouth, and  confine  him  in  his  cabin  till  he  gave  his 
consent ;  but  the  captain,  receiving  notice  of  this  ne- 
farious design,  called  the  seamen  before  him,  and  in 
presence  of  Mr.  Cartwright  the  preacher,  and  Mr. 
Cobreth  the  master,  called  upon  them  to  answer  for 
thus  attempting  to  overthrow  a  voyage  fitted  out  at 
such  ample  cost  by  the  honorable  merchants. 

The  men  stood  firm,  and  produced  a  paper  signed 
by  themselves,  in  which  they  justified  the  proposed 
step  as  founded  on  solid  reason,  without  any  tincture 
of  fear  or  cowardice.  They  represented,  that  if  they 
should  suffer  themselves  to  be  enclosed  in  an  un- 
known sea,  by  this  dreadful  and  premature  winter, 
they  would  not  only  be  in  imminent  danger  of  perish- 
ing, but  could  not  hope  to  commence  their  career  of 
discovery  next  year  sooner  than  May  ;  while  by  setting 
sail  in  due  time  from  England  they  might  easily 
reach  this  coast  in  that  month.  Weymouth  retired 
to  his  cabin  to  deliberate,  when  he  heard  it  announced 
that  the  helm  "was  actually  borne  up.  Hastening  on 
deck,  and  asking  M'^ho  had  done  this,  he  was  answered, 
"  One  and  all ; "  and  he  found  the  combination  such 
as  it  was  impossible  to  resist,  though  he  took  occasion 
.  x*^vard  to  chastise  the  ringleaders.  The  men,  how- 
e,R.  d'^clared  themselves  ready  to  hazard  their  lives 
iP  ;-.iv:  discovery  which  might  be  attempted  to  the 
Bouiihv  ard. 

Descending  the  coast,  Weymouth  found  himself  at 
the  entrance  of  an  inlet,  into  which  he  sailed  in  a 


;,   .,!.-     ,|.   , 


FATE    OF    CAPTAIN    KNIGHT. 


87 


soiitli-west  direction,  a  liundred  leagues ;  but  encount- 
eiiiif  fogs  and  lieavy  gales,  and  finding  the  season  far 
si)ent,  lie  deemed  it  necessary  to  regain  tlie  open  sea. 
Tliis  inlet  Avas  in  fact  the  grand  entrance  of  Hudson's 
Ba3'. 

In  55"  Weymouth  found  a  fair  land,  consisting  of 
islands  and  "goodly  sounds,"  apparently  the  place 
Avhere  the  Moravian  settlement  of  Nain  was  aftenvard 
foiiued.  Soon  after,  a  dreadful  hurricaue  from  the 
west  seemed  to  take  up  the  sea  into  the  air,  and  drove 
the  ships  before  it  with  the  utmost  impetuosity.  Had 
it  been  from  any  other  quarter  they  must  have  been 
dashed  to  pieces  on  rocks;  however  they  ranged 
through  the  open  sea,  and  in  the  greatest  extremity 
"the  liord  delivered  us  liis  unworthy  servants." 
They  had  now  an  easy  navigation  to  England. 

Ko  farther  attempts  Avere  made  till  IGOG,  when 
East  India  merchants  fitted  out  a  vessel  of  forty  tons 
under  John  Ivnight,  who  had  been  employed  in  the 
Danish  voyages  to  Greenland.  On  the  19th  of  June 
he  had  reached  the  coast  of  Labrador,  but  the  vessel 
had  been  so  much  damaged  by  collisions  with  ice  that 
it  became  necessary  to  repair  it  thorougldy,  and  for 
this  jnirpose  it  was  hauled  ashore  in  a  little  cove. 

On  the  2Gth,  Knight,  Avith  some  of  his  men  well 
armed,  Avent  across  to  the  opposite  coast  in  a  boat,  to 
take  a  survey  (^f  the  country.  Here  the  captain  -w-ith 
two  of  his  ofiicers,  Avent  over  a  hill,  leaving  three 
men  in  charge  of  the  boat,  who  waited  the  whole  day 
in  anxious  expectation  of  the  return  of  the  party; 
they  then  sounded  trumj)ets,  fired  muskets,  and  made 
other  signals  but  without  effect.  After  waiting  till 
eleven  at  niglit,  they  gave  up  hopes,  and  returned  to 
the  ship  with  the  doleful  tidings.     The  crew  were 


:3 


il    I 


.,  .1 


i!  .' 


1^  1^'^' 


1 

1'' 

! 

(' 

1   ' ;.  . 

1 

1 

1 

,| 

By  I 

88 


A.V    ESQn.MAt'X    ATTACK. 


struck  with  the  deejiest  dismay  at  having  thus  hist 
their  captain  and  best  officers,  and  heing  themselves 
left  in  such  deplorable  circumstances.  The  boat  was 
fitted  out  next  morning  for  search,  but  could  not  cross 
the  channel  on  account  of  the  ice. 

On  the  night  of  the  2Sth,  as  the  boatswain  was  keep- 
ing watch  in  advance  of  the  tents,  he  suddenly  saw 
rushing  thrcnigh  the  darkness  a  great  body  of  men, 
who,  on  desciying  him,  let  fly  their  arrows.  lie  in- 
stantly fired,  and  gaNe  the  alarm  ;  but  before  the  ci'ew 
could  stai't  from  bed  and  1)6  mustered,  the  shallo])  Avas 
filled  Avith  fifty  savages,  mIio,  with  loud  cries  and  men- 
acing gestures,  showed  themselves  prepared  for  im- 
mediate attack.  The  English  mustered  onl}'  eight 
men  and  a  larije  doo:,  and  thoucfh  the  rain  fell  in  tor- 
rents,  they  determined  rather  to  perish  bra\ely,  assail- 
ing this  savage  enemy,  than  to  wait  their  onset.  They 
advanced,  thei'efore,  placing  the  dog  foremost.  This 
bold  front  appalled  the  savages,  who  leaped  into 
their  boats,  and  made  off  Avith  all  speed ;  but  they 
were  entangled  in  the  ice,  and  detained  a  considerable 
time,  during  Avhich  the  pursuers  continued  firing,  and 
the  savages  were  heard  "  crying  to  each  other,  very 


sore. 


H 


The  mariners,  placed  in  this  alarming  situation, 
made  all  the  haste  they  could  to  fit  their  shattered 
bark  for  again  taking  the  sea.  They  had  first  to  cut 
a  way  for  her  through  the  ice ;  but  they  had  nothing 
which  could  be  called  a  rudder,  and  the  leaks  were  so 
large,  that  the  sailors  could  scarcely  enjoy  half  an 
hour's  relief  from  the  pump.  At  length  they  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  and 
found,  among  the  fishing  vessels  on  that  station, 
friends  who  supplied  all  their  wants.     After  twenty 


ft? 


Hudson's  voyage  toavard  the  pole. 


89 


(lays  siient  in  repairing  their  ship   they  sailed  for 

home. 

Captain  Ileniy  Hudson,  a  Londoner,  of  whose 
early  life  very  little  is  known,  was  employed,  as  he 
Bays,  "l)y  certaine  worshipfull  merchants  of  London, 
for  to  discover  a  passage  hy  the  North  Pole,  to  Japan 
and  Cliiiia."  With  only  ten  men  and  his  little  son, 
he  snik'd  in  a  small  vessel  on  the  first  of  May,  1607, 
with  instructions  to  sail,  if  possible,  directly  over  the 
Nortli  Pole.  This  was  the  first  attempt  to  make  this 
hazai'dous  trip,  and  the  first  recorded  voyage  of  this 
eminent  navigator. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  the  ship  was  involved  in 
thick  fog,  the  shrouds  and  sails  being  frozen ;  but 
when  it  cleared  next  morning,  the  sailors  desciied  a 
high  and  l)old  headland,  on  Greenland  coast,  mostly 
covered  with  snow,  behind  Avliich  rose  a  castellated 
mountain,  named  the  Mount  of  God's  Mercy.  Rain 
noAv  fell,  and  tlie  air  felt  temperate  and  agreeable. 
Tliey  steered  eastward  to  clear  this  coast ;  but,  after 
being  for  some  time  enveloped  in  fogs,  again  saw  land, 
very  high  and  bold,  and  without  snow  even  on  the 
top  of  the  loftiest  mountains.  To  this  cape,  in  73°, 
they  gave  the  name  of  Hold-with-IIope. 

Hudson  now  took  a  north-eastward  direction,  and 
on  the  27th,  faintly  perceived,  amid  fogs  and  mist, 
the  coast  of  Spitzbergen.  He  still  pushed  no]i:liward, 
till  he  passed  the  79th  degree  of  latitude,  where  he 
found  tlie  sun  continually  ten  degrees  above  the  hori- 
zon, yet  the  Aveather  piercingly  cold,  and  the  slirouds 
and  sails  often  frozen.  The  ice  obliged  him  to  steer 
in  various  directions ;  but  em})racing  eveiy  oj^portu- 
nity,  lie  pushed  on,  as  appeared  to  him,  to  SI'*, 
and  saw  land  still  continuously  stretching  as  far  as 
6 


00 


A   MEKMAID   DISCOVERED. 


!      I, 


;lt , 


82®.  He  returned,  coasting  along  Spitzbergeii,  some 
parts  of  which  appeared  very  agreea})le  ;  and  on  the 
15th  of  September  arrived  in  the  Thames. 

On  Hudson's  return  from  Spitzbergen,  the  London 
merchants  still  hoping  to  find  a  route  to  the  North- 
east, sent  him  out  on  a  voyage  in  that  direction.  On 
the  3d  of  June,  1608,  he  passed  the  North  Cape,  and 
pushed  on  to  the  north  and  east  till  he  reached  the 
latitude  of  75®,  when  he  found  himself  entangled 
among  ice.  He  at  first  endeavored  to  push  through, 
but  failing  in  this  attempt,  turned  and  extricated 
himself  with  only  "a  few  rubs."  On  the  12th  of 
June  he  experienced  a  thick  fog,  and  had  his  shrouds 
frozen ;  but  the  sky  then  cleared,  and  afforded  bright 
sunshine  for  the  whole  day  and  night.  On  the  15th, 
Thomas  Hilies  and  Robert  Rayner  solemnly  aveiTed, 
that,  standing  on  deck,  they  had  seen  a  mermaid. 
This  marine  maiden  is  described  as  having  a  female 
back  and  breast,  a  very  white  skin,  and  long  black 
hair  flowing  behind ;  but  on  her  turning  round  they 
descried  a  tail  as  of  a  porpoise,  and  speckled  like  a 
mackerel. 

Hudson  continued  to  push  on  eastward,  between 
the  latitudes  of  74®  and  75®.  On  the  25th,  heavy 
north  and  north-easterly  gales,  accompanied  with  fog 
and  snow,  obliged  him  to  steer  south-easterly ;  and 
this  course  brought  him  to  the  coast  of  Nova  Zembla. 
Here,  he  concluded  that  it  was  fruitless  to  attempt 
to  hold  a  more  northerly  course  and  resolved  to  try 
the  old  and  so  often  vainly-attempted  route  of  the 
"Waygatz. 

From  this  he  was  diverted  by  the  view  of  a  large 
sound,  which  appeared  to  afford  an  equally  promising 
opening.    On   its  shores  also  were  numerous  herds 


VOYAOB   IN   TIIK  HALF-MOON. 


91 


of  walrus,  from  which  he  hoped  to  defray  the 
expense  of  the  voyage.  Nova  Zembla,  on  the  whole, 
seen  under  this  Arctic  midsummer,  presented  to  him 
somewhat  of  a  gay  aspect.  He  says,  it  is  "  to  man's 
eye  a  pleasant  land ;  nmch  mayne  land,  with  no  snow 
on  it,  looking  in  some  places  green,  and  deer  feeding 
thereon."  The  sound,  however,  terminated  in  a  large 
river,  and  the  boats  soon  came  to  anchorage  in  shallow 
water.  The  ice  now  came  in  great  masses  from  the 
south,  "  very  fearful  to  look  on  ;"  and  though  "  by  the 
mercy  of  God  and  His  mighty  help,"  Hudson  escaped 
the  danger,  yet  by  the  6th  of  July  he  was  "  void  of 
hope  of  a  north-east  passage,"  and,  determining  to  put 
his  employers  to  no  farther  expense,  hastened  home 
to  England.  The  "  worshipfull  merchants,"  discour- 
aged by  these  failures,  refused  to  fit  out  any  more  ex- 
peditions for  him. 

The  bold  Englishman  now  sought  employment 
from  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  and  sailed  from 
the  Texel  under  their  auspices  in  a  little  vessel  called 
the  Half-Moon,  with  a  crew  of  twenty  men,  on  the 
25th  of  March  1609. 

On  the  5th  of  May  he  passed  the  North  Cape,  and 
on  the  19th  came  in  view  of  Wardhuys.  Here  he 
turned  his  prow  and  steered  across  the  Atlantic  to 
America.  His  reasons  for  so  doing  are  not  known  ; 
but  it  is  conjectured  that  his  seamen  accustomed  to 
seek  India  by  the  tropical  route,  were  alarmed  by  the 
fogs,  tempests,  and  floating  ice  of  the  north,  and  that 
Hudson  prefen'ed  to  seek  for  a  north- western  route. 

On  the  2d  of  July  Hudson  reached  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland,  and  then  proceeding  southward  visit- 
ing several  places  along  the  coast,  he  arrived  in  Au- 
gust off  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  John  Smith  at  that 


rTWf 


92 


DI8C0\'TiKY   OF   THE   lIUDrtOX    KIVKll. 


.     .       •■•'   ! 


I       !'■' 


'''      "'ili* 


Bll    hji! 


I;!^'  m 


time  was  ongtiged  in  founding  the  first  English  settle- 
ment in  Ameriou.  Hudson  then  Hiiile<l  nortliward,  and 
came  to  anch(>r  in  what  is  now  kn«j\vn  as  the  Lower  Bay 
of  New  Yoi'k  City. 

After  ascending  the  Hudson  TJiv^T  for  ahout  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles,  Hudson  hegan  to  pereeive  fliat 
the  track  to  India  was  yet  undiscovered  ;  so  lie  turned 
his  prow  southward  and  heatslowly  down  the  strctam, 
havinir  several  ii'dits  witli   the  natives  on  the   way. 

On  the  4th  of  Octoher  lie  hsft  New  York  Ihiv,  and 
proceeded  to  England,  where  he  A\'as  detained  for  a 
while  hy  an  order  of  the  English  court,  Avho  were 
Jealous  of  th(^  enterprise  of  the  Dutch. 

Hudson  sailed  on  his  last  and  lainentahle  \'oyage 
on  the  Itth  of  April,  lOlO.  His  one  ship  Avas  pro- 
visioned for  six  monllis,  and  had  Leeii  titted  out  1)y 
eminent  Englishmen.  On  the  11th  of  ^hiy  he  de- 
scried the  eastern  part  of  Iceland,  and  Avas  enveloped 
in  a  thick  south  fog — hearing  the  sea  dasliiiitc  aufainst 
the  coast  without  seeing  it.  He  Avas  thus  ol)llged  to 
come  to  anchor;  but,  as  soon  as  the  Aveather  cleared, 
he  ])roceeded  AA'cstAA'^ai'd  along  the  coast  till  he  reached 
SnoAV  Hill  (Snaefell,)  which  rears  its  aA\'ful  head 
above  the  sea  that  leads  to  the  frozen  shores  of  Green- 
land. On  their  Avay  the  navigators  saAV  Ilecla,  the 
volcano  of  Avhich  Avas  then  in  activity,  A'omiting  tor- 
rents of  fire  doAvn  its  suoav}"^  sides,  Avith  smoke  ascend- 
ing to  the  sky — an  olg'ect  not  only  feai-f ul  in  itself, 
but  Avhich  struck  them  Avith  alarm  as  an  indicaticm  of 
unfaA^orable  Aveather. 

LeaA-ing  the  Icelandic  coast  they  noAV  sailed  west- 
Avard,  and,  after  being  deceived  by  illv.sory  apj^ear- 
ances  of  land,  at  length  saAV  the  Avhite  cliffs  of  Green- 
land toAvering  behind  a  mighty  Avail  of  ice.     Without 


I. .,  I' 


hi  fj 

Li  '    11 


KSQUIMAUX    SNOW    IlOUSICh. 


a. 


,'j. 


I 


i 


I 


iii 


¥i\ 


f>r  |i 


y  ■■'    '. 

1   !#'  'H  1 

1  '1 1 

[■■'•*^ 

1   'f';   i   '■ 

'^   I 


'^i 

■'■ 

■ 

i! 

1? 

ii 

ii 

ll.ll 


HUDSON  S    LAST    VOYAGE. 


95 


attempting  to  approach  the  coast,  Hudson  sailed  to- 
wards the  south-west,  and  passed  what  he  imagined  to 
be  Frobisher's  Strait,  which  in  fact  long  continued  to 
be  laid  down  on  the  coast  of  Greenland.  Hudson  now 
rounded  Cape  Farewell,  and  "  raised  the  Desolations," 
making  careful  observations  of  those  coasts,  which  he 
found  not  well  laid  down  on  the  charts.  The  marin- 
ers soon  began  to  descry,  floating  along,  the  mighty 
islands  of  ice, — a  sight  which  appalled  all  but  the 
stoutest  hearts.  OnAv^ard  they  sailed,  however,  some- 
times enjoying  a  clear  and  open  sea,  but  often  encom- 
passed by  these  mighty  masses,  or  by  the  small  and 
drifting  heaps ;  and  at  length  they  had  to  steer  as  it 
were  between  two  lands  of  ice.  They  sometimes 
moored  themselves,  on  occasions  of  peril,  to  tliese  ice- 
bergs ;  but  seeing  one  of  them  fall  with  a  tremendous 
crash  into  the  sea,  they  no  longer  trusted  to  such  a 
protection. 

On  the  25th  of  June  land  appeared  to  the  north, 
was  again  lost  sight  of,  and  aftervvai'd  discovered  to 
the  south ;  so  that  they  found  themselves  at  the  bi-oad 
entrance  of  the  channel  which  has  since  obtained  tlie 
name  of  Hudson's  Strait.  They  were  now  still  more 
troidded  with  ice  in  various  forms,  particularly  that 
of  large  islands  standing  deep  in  the  water,  which 
were  more  difficult  to  avoid  from  the  violent  ripples 
and  currents.  Thus  they  were  often  obliged,  especially 
amid  thick  fogs,  to  fasten  themselves  to  the  largest 
and  firmest  of  tliese  masses,  upon  which  they  used  to 
go  out  from  time  to  time  to  ])rocure  the  water  melted 
in  the  hollows,  which  proved  to  be  sweet  and  good. 

Amid  tliese  vicissitudes  many  of  the  sailors  became 
feai-ful  and  some  of  them  sick,  and  Hudson  to  enc(Mir- 
ao:e  them  called  them  together  and  sho^\'ed  tliem  his 


96 


TROUBLE  "Wim  THE  SAILOBS. 


!1M      il 


II  : 


I  M' 


li"iiJ 


81    .    ■<'■■■■ 


|i  1 


chart,  from  wMch  it  appeared  that  they  had  penetrated 
farther  into  the  straits  by  a  hundred  leagues  than 
any  former  expedition ;  he  then  put  it  to  vote  whether 
they  should  proceed  on  or  not. 

This  was  a  bold  experiment,  but  did  not  succeed. 
Some,  it  is  true,  expressed  themselves  "honestly 
respecting  the  good  of  the  action;"  others  declared 
they  would  give  nine-tenths  of  all  they  were  worth, 
so  that  they  were  safe  at  home;  others  said  they 
did  not  care  where  they  went,  so  they  were  out  of 
the  ice. 

Hudson,  vexed  and  disappointed,  broke  up  the 
conference,  and  determining  to  follow  his  own  course 
made  his  way  onward,  having  sometimes  a  wide  and 
clear  sea,  and  being  occasionally  involved  amid  moun- 
tains of  ice.  Certain  rocky  islands,  in  which  he  found 
a  tolerable  harbor,  were  called  "  Isles  of  God's  Mercy ; ' ' 
but  even  this  refuge  was  rendered  dangerous  by  hid- 
den reefs ;  and  the  island  adjoining  to  it  contained 
only  "  plashes  of  water  and  riven  rocks,''  and  had  the 
appearance  of  being  subject  to  earthquake. 

At  length  they  arrived  at  a  broad  opening,  having 
on  each  side  capes  to  which  Hudson  gave  the  names 
of  the  two  chief  patrons  of  the  voyage,  Wolstenholme 
and  Digges.  Landing  at  the  latter  and  mounting  a  hill, 
the  men  descried  some  level  spots  abounding  in  sorrel 
and  scurvy  grass — ^plants  most  salutary  in  this  climate ; 
while  herds  of  deer  were  feeding,  and  the  rocks  were 
covered  with  unexampled  profusion  of  fowls.  Seeing 
such  ample  materials  both  for  sport  and  food,  the  crew, 
who  had  ever  shown  the  most  anxious  concern  for 
their  own  comfort,  earnestly  besought  Hudson  to  allow 
them  to  remain  and  enjoy  themselves  for  a  few  days 
on  this  agreeable  spot ;  but  he  would  not  consent  as 


Bi 


DISCOVERT   OF  HUDSON'S  BAY. 


97 


tlie  season  for  discovery  was  rapidly  passing  away. 

After  proceeding  a  short  distance  through  the  open- 
ing, the  coasts  on  each  side  were  seen  to  separate,  and 
lie  beheld  before  him  an  ocean-expanse,  to  which  the 
eye  could  discover  no  termination.  It  seemed  to  him, 
doubtless,  a  portion  of  the  mighty  Pacific,  though 
really  Hudson's  Bay.  Here,  however,  Hudson's  nar- 
rative closes,  without  expressing  those  feelings  of 
pride  and  exultation  which  must  have  filled  his  mind 
at  this  promised  fulfillment  of  his  highest  hopes.  The 
narrative  of  Pricket,  one  of  Hudson's  men,  must  be  the 
foundation  for  the  remaining  history  of  the  voyage. 

The  3d  of  August  had  now  anived,  a  season  at 
"which  the  boldest  of  northern  navigators  had  been  ac- 
customed  to  think  of  returning.  Little  inclined  to 
Buch  a  course,  Hudson  continued  to  sail  along  the  coast 
on  the  left,  hoping  probably  before  the  close  of 
Autumn  to  reach  some  cultivated  and  temperate  shore 
where  he  might  take  up  his  winter-quarters.  The 
shores  along  this  bay,  though  not  in  a  veiy  high  lati- 
tude, are  subject  to  a  climate  the  most  rigorous  and 
inclement.  Entangled  in  the  gulfs  and  capes  of  an 
unknown  coast,  struggling  with  mist  and  storm,  and 
ill-seconded  by  a  discontented  crew,  he  spent  three 
months  without  reaching  any  comfortable  haven. 

It  was  now  the  1st  of  November,  the  ice  was  clos- 
ing in  on  all  sides,  and  nothing  remained  but  to  meet 
the  cheerless  winter  which  had  actually  begun.  The 
Bailors  were  too  late  at  attempting  to  erect  a  wooden 
house;  yet  the  cold,  though  severe,  does  not  seem 
to  have  reached  any  perilous  height.  Their  chief 
alarm  was  respecting  provisions,  of  which  they  had 
now  only  a  small  remnant  left.  Hudson  took  active 
measures  to  relieve  this  want,  and  offered  a  reward 


)M 


i'H 


(I   Ui 


i.i'  '^i 


rl  ■     I. 


m 


il  i ; 


98 


IN   WINTEB   QUABTERS. 


to  wlioever  should  kill  beast,  fish,  oi'  bird;  and 
"Providence  dealt  mercifully,"  in  sending  such  a 
supply  of  Avhite  partridges,  that  in  three  months  they 
killed  a  hundred  dozen.  In  the  spring  these  birds 
disappeared,  but  were  succeeded  by  flocks  of  geese, 
swans,  and  ducks,  not  denizens  of  the  spot,  but  on 
their  flight  from  south  to  north.  When  these  were 
gone  the  air  no  longer  yielded  a  supply,  but  the  sea 
began  to  open,  and  having  on  the  first  day  taken  five 
hundred  fishes,  they  Avere  much  encouraged ;  but 
their  success  at  fishing  did  not  continue ;  and  being 
reduced  to  great  extremity  they  searched  the  woods 
for  moss. 

Hudson  now  undertook  an  excursion  with  a  view 
to  open  an  intercourse  with  the  natives,  but  they  fled, 
setting  fire  to  the  woods  behind  them.  Parley  was 
obtained  with  one,  Avho  was  loaded  with  gifts,  yet  he 
never  returned.  Discontents  arose  as  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  small  remaining  portion  of  bread  and 
cheese,  to  allay  which  the  captain  made  a  general  and 
equal  partition  of  the  whole.  This  ^vas  a  bad  meas- 
ure among  such  a  crew,  many  of  whom  knew  not  how 
"  to  govern  their  share,"  but  greedily  devoured  it  as 
long  as  it  lasted. 

Hudson  had  from  the  first  to  straggle  with  an  un- 
principled, ill-tempered  crew,  void  of  any  concern  for 
the  ultimate  success  of  the  voyar e.  He  had  probably 
hoped,  as  the  season  should  advance,  to  push  on  south- 
ward and  reach  next  summer  the  wealthy  regions 
which  he  was  commissioned  to  search.  The  sailors, 
on  the  contrary,  had  fixed  their  desire  on  "  the  cape 
where  fowls  do  breed,"  the  only  place  where  they  ex- 
pected to  obtain  both  present  supply  and  the  means 
of  returning  to  England.     Ringleaders  were  not  want- 


PE0GKES8   OF   THE   MUTINY. 


99 


ing  to  head  this  growing  party  of  malcontents.  At 
the  entrance  of  the  bay  the  captain  had  disi)laced  Tvet, 
the  mate,  who  had  shown  strong  propensities  for  re- 
turning, and  appointed  in  his  room  Byh>t,  a  man  of 
merit,  who  had  always  shown  zeal  in  the  general 
cause.     He  had  also  changed  the  boatswain. 

Among  the  crew  was  a  AVTetch  named  Green,  whom 
Hudson  had  taken  on  board  and  endeavored  to 
reclaim.  He  was  possessed  of  talents  Avliich  had 
made  him  useful,  and  even  a  favorite  with  his  sujie- 
rior  ;  and  among  other  discontents  of  the  crew,  it  was 
reckoned  one  that  a  veil  was  thrown  over  several  fla- 
grant disorders  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  Yet 
some  hot  expressions  of  Hudson  so  acted  on  the  fierce 
spirit  of  this  ruffian,  that,  renouncing  eveiy  tie  of 
gratitude  and  all  that  is  sacred  among  mankind,  he 
became  the  chief  in  a  conspiracy  to  seize  the  vessel 
and  expose  the  commander  to  perish. 

After  some  days'  consultation,  the  time  was  fixed 
for  the  perpetration  of  a  horrible  atrocity.  On  the 
21st  of  June,  1611,  Green  and  Wilson  the  boatswain, 
came  into  Pricket  the  narrator's  cabin,  and  announced 
their  fatal  resolution ;  adding,  that  they  l)ore  him  so 
much  good-will  as  to  wish  that  he  should  remain  on 
board.  Pricket  avers  most  solemnly,  that  he  exhaust- 
ed eveiy  argument  which  might  induce  them  to  desist 
from  their  horrid  purpose,  beseeching  them  not  to  do 
so  foul  a  thing  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man,  which 
would  for  ever  banish  them  from  their  njitive  country, 
their  waves,  and  children.  Green  ^wildly  answered, 
that  they  had  made  up  their  minds  to  go  through 
with  it  or  die,  and  that  they  would  ratlier  be  hanged 
at  home  than  starve  here.  An  attempt  was  then  made 
to  negotiate  a  delay  of  three,  two,  or  even  one  day, 


If  1 1 

m 

mi    ft  i 

lit 

In  •I  i 

ilil 

'Hi       '  1       H 

i      1 

\\i    :  1 

i    1  '■   '■''; 

[nj       i  .                  i'! 

m     •;;  '" 

II  ll 


ml '    ii'  '  i> 


100 


THE  APPROACHING  TBAGEDY. 


but  all  without  effect.  Ivet  declaring  that  he  would 
Justify  in  England  the  deed  on  which  they  had  re- 
solved. Pricket  according  to  his  own  story,  then  per- 
suaded them  to  delay  till  daylight  the  accomplishment 
of  their  crime.  ' 

Daybreak  approaching,  Hudson  came  out  of  his 
cabin,  when  he  was  instantly  set  upon  by  Thomas, 
Bennet,  an'^  Wilson,  who  seized  him  and  bound  his 
hands  behind  hit,  hack;  and  on  his  eagerly  asking 
what  they  me.:^:  t,  i'  :d.  him  he  should  know  when  he 
was  in  the  snallop.  Ivet  then  attacked  King,  the  car- 
penter, known  ^  ^he  conmander's  most  devoted  ad- 
herent. That  brave  fello.v,  i.;!'/ing  a  sword,  made  a 
formidable  resistance,  and  would  have  killed  his  as- 
sailant had  not  the  latter  been  speedily  reinforced. 
The  mutineers  then  offered  to  him  the  choice  of  con- 
tinuing in  the  ship ;  but  he  absolutely  refused  to  be 
detained  otherwise  than  by  force,  and  immediately 
followed  his  master  whom  the  conspirators  were  al- 
ready letting  down  the  sides  of  the  vessel.  Hudson's 
son,  a  boy,  was  also  sent  into  the  boat. 

The  mutineers  then  called  from  their  beds  and, 
drove  into  the  boat,  six  sick  and  infirm  sailors  whose 
support  would  have  been  burdensome.  They  threw 
after  them  the  carpenter's  box,  with  some  powder  and 
shot,  and  cutting  loose  from  the  boat  sailed  away. 
Hudson  and  his  companions  thus  abandoned,  were 
never  heard  of  more ;  and  undoubtedly  perished  on 
those  remote  and  desolate  shores. 

As  soon  as  the  mutineers  had  time  to  reflect,  rueful 
misgivings  began  to  arise.  Even  Green,  who  now  as- 
sumed command,  admitted  that  England  at  this  time 
was  no  place  for  them,  nor  could  he  contrive  any 
better  scheme  than  to  keep  the  high  sea  till,  by  some 


iji 


I 


ADVENTURES   OF  THE  MUTINEEB8. 


101 


means  or  other,  tliey  might  procure  a  pardon.  The 
vessel  was  now  embayed  and  detained  for  a  fortnight 
amid  fields  of  ice  which  extended  for  miles  around  it ; 
and,  but  for  some  cockle-grass  found  on  an  island  the 
crew  must  have  perished  by  famine.  Disputes  with 
respect  to  t^'e  steerage  arose  between  I  vet  and  Bylot, 
who  alone  had  any  pretensions  to  skill ;  but  the  latter, 
at  length  guided  them  to  Cape  Digges,  the  longed-for 
spot,  the  breeding  place  for  fowls,  clouds  of  which 
still  continued  to  darken  the  air.  The  party  imme- 
diately landed,  spread  themselves  among  the  rocks, 
and  began  to  shoot. 

While  the  boat  was  on  shore  they  saw  seven  canoes 
rowing  towards  them.  The  savages  came  forward 
beating  their  breasts,  dancing  and  leaping,  ^vith  every 
friendly  sign.  The  utmost  intimacy  commenced,  the 
parties  went  backward  and  forward,  showed  each 
other  theii'  mode  of  catching  fowls,  and  made  mutual 
presents  and  exchanges.  In  short,  these  appeared  the 
most  kind  and  simple  people  in  the  world,  and  "  God 
so  blinded  Henry  Green,"  that  he  viewed  them  with 
implicit  confidence. 

One  day,  amid  the  height  of  this  intimacy.  Pricket, 
sitting  in  the  boat,  suddenly  saw  a  native  close  to 
him  with  a  knife  uplifted  and  ready  to  strike.  In 
attempting  to  arrest  the  blow  his  hand  was  cut,  and 
he  could  not  escape  three  wounds;  after  which  he 
got  hold  of  the  handle  of  the  knife  and  wrenched 
it  from  the  assassin,  whom  he  then  pierced  with  his 
dagger.  At  the  same  time  a  general  attack  was 
made  on  the  English  crew  dispersed  in  different 
quarters.  Green  and  Perse  came  tumbling  down 
wounded  into  the  boat,  which  pushed  off,  while 
Moter,   "  seeing   this   medley,"   leaped  into  the  sea, 


1! 

K    1    J 

ii^j? 

'  J  '■a-'^ 

:  -i  \r , 

^y 

iff 

■  ii' 

|i:>' . 

1  i  h 

'1  ir' 

v' 

!<      1 


•n 


1*  '  m 


■'!■'      If) 


102 


THE   RINGLEADEES   KILLED   BY   NATIVES. 


¥ 

swam  out,  and,  getting  hold  of  the  stern  was  pulled 
in  by  Perse. 

The  sav^iiges  then  fired  arrows  at  the  boat,  one  of 
which  struck  Green  with  such  force  that  he  died  on 
the  spot,  and  his  body  was  thrown  into  the  sea. 
At  length  the  party  reached  the  vessel ;  but  Moter 
and  Wilson  died  that  day,  and  Perse  two  days  after. 
Thus  penslied  the  chief  perpetrators  of  the  late 
dreadful  tragedy,  visited  by  Providence  with  a  fate 
not  less  terrible  than  that  which  they  had  inflicted  on 
their  victims. 

The  crew  thus  deprived  of  their  best  hands  were 
in  extreme  pei-plexity,  obliged  to  ply  the  shij)  to  and 
fro  across  the  straits,  and  unable  without  the  utmost 
fear  and  peril  to  venture  on  shore ;  although  it  was 
absolutely  necessary  for  obtaining  provisions  to  carry 
them  to  England.  They  contrived  during  some 
anxious  and  unhappy  excursions  to  collect  three 
hundred  birds,  which  they  salted  and  preserved  as 
the  only  stock  whereupon  to  attempt  the  voyage. 
They  suffered  during  the  passage  the  most  dreadful 
extremities  of  famine,  having  only  half  a  fowl  a  day 
to  each  man,  and  considering  it  a  luxury  to  have  them 
fried  with  candles. 

Ivet,  now  the  sole  survivor  of  the  ringleaders  in 
the  late  dreadful  transaction,  sunk  under  these  ]:)riva- 
tions.  The  last  fowl  was  in  the  steep-tub  and  the 
men  were  become  careless  or  desperate,  when  suddenly 
it  pleased  God  to  give  them  sight  of  land,  which 
proved  to  be  the  north  of  Ireland.  On  going  ashore 
at  Berehaven  they  did  not  meet  with  much  sympathy 
or  kindness;  but  by  mortgaging  their  vessel  they 
obtained  the  means  of  proceeding  to  PlymoutL 


CHAPTER  YII. 

ARCTIC    VOYAGES    OF    BUTTON,    BYLOT, 
BAFFIN,  MUNK,  JAMES,  AND  OTHERS. 

NoTWiTiisTANDmG  the  (lejilorable  issue  of  Hudson's 
last  voyage,  tlie  discovery  tliereT)y  made  of  a  great 
open  sea  in  the  west  seemed  to  justify  the  most  flat- 
tenng  hopes  of  accomplishing  a  passage,  and  the  next 
year,  1612,  Captain  Button  was  sent  out,  with  Bylot 
and  Pricket  as  guides.  He  soon  made  liis  Avay  through 
Hudson's  Straits,  and  pushing  directly  across  the 
great  sea  which  opened  to  the  westward,  came  in 
view  of  an  insular  caj^e,  which  afterward  jirove*!  to  be 
the  most  southern  point  of  Southampton  Island. 
Nothing  else  broke  the  apparent  continuity  of  the 
ocean,  and  he  cherished  sanguine  hopes  that  the  first 
coast  he  should  see  would  be  that  of  Japan.  Sudden- 
ly the  alarm  of  land  was  given,  when  there  appeared 
before  him  an  immense  range  of  Arctic  coast,  stretch- 
ing north  and  south,  and  barring  all  farther  progress. 
Button,  deeply  disappointed,  gave  it  the  name  of 
Hope  Checked. 

Before  he  had  time  to  look  for  an  oj)ening,  the 
gloom  of  the  northern  winter  began  to  gather,  and  he 
had  to  seek  quarters  for  the  season,  and  found  them 
in  the  same  creek  and  river  which  afterward  became 

103 


m 


li'flr 


II  ;! 


m\ 


iMi 


jl  'f 


; 


Mi'! 


|:J:'! 


'.   J 


1 1  ft  ' 


ri:f.' 


il 


li  m 


I 


't: 


'!«!> 

:ii! 


104 


CAPTAIN  gibbon's  ADVENTURE. 


the  principal  settlement  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. In  spite  of  his  best  precautions  he  lost  several 
men  through  the  severity  of  the  cold,  and  was  unable 
to  extricate  himself  from  the  ice  till  the  middle  of 
June.  He  then  steered  northward,  and  sought  an 
opening  through  the  broad  bay  between  the  continent 
and  Southampton  Island,  since  called  Roe's  Welcome. 
Seeing  this  channel,  however,  become  narrower  and 
narrower  till  it  apparently  closed,  he  gave  up  the  at- 
tempt, and  after  touching  at  several  points  of  the 
island  just  named  returned  to  England. 

Although  Button  had  been  thus  baffled  by  the  un- 
welcome encounter  of  the  western  shore  of  Hudson's 
Bay,  the  merchants  still  considered  it  by  no  means 
ascertained  that  this  coasifc  was  so  extensive  and  con* 
tinuous  aa  to  preclude  all  passage  into  the  ocean  be- 
yond America;  accordingly  they  fitted  out  (in  1614) 
two  vessels  under  Captain  Gibbons,  an  officer  of  repu- 
tation, pronounced  by  Button  "  not  short  of  any  man 
that  ever  yet  he  carried  to  sea."  But  either  his  repu» 
tation  went  beyond  his  merits  or  fortune  was  singu- 
larly adverse,  for  never  was  there  a  more  abortive 
voyage.  He  was  early  entangled  in  a  bay  on  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  in  which  he  was  detained  the 
whole  summer,  and  which  was  afterward  dignified 
with  the  appellation  of  ''Gibbons  his  Hole."  Hav- 
ing here  sustained  some  damage  from  the  ice,  he  had 
no  sooner  extricated  himself  than  he  returned  home. 

The  merchant  adventurers,  still  undismayed,  sent 
out  next  summer  (1615)  the  Discovery,  under  By- 
lot,  who  was  accompanied  by  William  Baffin,  a  skill- 
ful pilot  and  the  most  learned  navigator  of  the  age. 

Baffin  had  already  made  two  voyages  to  the  Green- 
land seas,  the  first  in  1613,  with  six  well-armed  ships, 


BAFFIN'S  EARLY  VOYAGES. 


105 


whose  object  seems  to  have  been  to  chase  away  the 
whaling  vessels  of  other  nations.  The  next  year, 
1614,  he  accompanied,  as  pilot,  Robert  Fotherby, 
who  was  sent  out  with  the  ship  Thomasine,  to  accom- 
pany the  great  Greenland  fleet  of  ten  ships  and  two 
pinnaces.  While  they  were  fishing,  Fotherby  and 
Baffin  were  to  devote  themselves  mainly  to  dis- 
co veiy;  but  their  craise  resulted  in  nothing  of  interest. 

Bylot  and  Baffin  entered  Hudson's  Straits,  and 
having  on  the  2d  of  June  heard  from  the  north- 
ern shore  a  great  barking  of  dogs,  landed  and 
found  five  tents  covered  with  seal-skin,  among  which 
were  ininning  about  thirty-five  or  forty  of  these  ani- 
mals, of  a  blinded  black  color,  resembling  wolves. 
They  had  collars  and  harness  suitable  for  sledges 
lined  with  fish-bone  which  were  standing  by.  In 
one  of  the  houses  was  a  bag  with  little  images  of 
men. 

The  navigators  soon  descried  a  canoe  with  twenty 
individuals,  whom  they  hailed  with  Greenland  words 
of  courteous  import,  holding  up  knives  and  other 
toys.  Friendly  salutations  were  given  in  return ; 
but  neither  party  chose  to  trust  themselves  within 
reach  of  the  other.  At  a  little  distance,  the  conflict  of 
opposite  currents  amid  large  icebergs  caused  so  fear- 
ful a  grinding  that  they  gave  to  the  adjoining  land 
the  name  of  Mill  Island.  There  they  would  have 
been  in  extreme  danger  "  had  not  God,  who  is  strong- 
er than  ice  or  stream,"  delivered  them. 

The  policy  of  Bylot  in  this  voyage  seems  to  have 
been  to  keep  close  to  the  northern  shore  of  the  strait ; 
and  thus,  entering  Hudson's  Bay  at  a  higher  latitude, 
he  hoped  to  keep  clear  of  those  lands  which  had 
barred  the  westerly  career  of  his  predecessors.    On 


ml 

m 

" 

1;     1 

I'l 

1  t 

1 1 '     ; 

!  \ 


W     'I 


.,,  .^' 


\    II  m 


'i; 


,    1; 


J  " 

V 

,jv'' !,;   I  ■ 

'•'  \;| ! 

ii'    it 

1  <^!^f' 

1 1 

III 

^'«! 

m 

ll 

lOG 


VOYAGE   OF   IJYLOT   AND    BAFl'lN. 


reacliing,  tlierefore,  Hudson's  Isles  of  God's  Mercy 
instead  of  steering  southward  to  Cape  Dudley  Digges, 
lie  i)roeeeded  directly  west,  and  ari'ived  in  the  broad 
expanse  afterward  called  the  Fox  Channel. 

At  length  he  saw  land,  hut  it  was  bounded  by  a 
cape  Avliieh  had  every  a])i)earance  of  being  the  most 
northerly  point  of  America.  He  called  it  Cape  Com- 
fort ;  though  this  name  it  soon  appeared  Mas  pi'cma- 
ture,  for  a  single  day  had  not  elapsed  when  "  his 
sudden  comfort  was  as  soon  quailed." 

Tliey  -were  now  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Southamp- 
ton Island,  which  spread  on  every  side  its  almost 
measureless  extent,  seeming  to  preclude  every  jirospect 
of  an  opening  on  either  hand.  Disa2)pointment,  the 
lateness  of  the  season,  and  the  pressure  of  the  ice, 
concurred  in  persuading  Bylot  that  there  was  nothing 
to  be  hoped  for  here,  and  determined  him  to  set  sail 
immediately  for  England ;  whither  he  carried  a  most 
iinfavoral)le  report  as  to  any  prospect  of  peneti'ating 
westward  in  that  direction. 

But  the  adventurers  were  not  discouraged  by  this 
adverse  result.  Turning  their  hopes  to  a  different 
quarter,  next  year  (1616)  they  again  fitted  out  Bylot 
and  Baffin  with  instnictions  no  longer  to  attempt  the 
passage  by  Hudson's  Bay,  1)ut  to  enter  Davis's  Straits, 
and  push  due  north  till  they  reached  lat.  SO'',  if  an 
oj)en  sea  should  allow  them  to  proceed  so  far ;  then, 
turning  to  tli'^  westward,  to  round,  if  practicable,  the 
extreme  point  of  America,  and  to  bear  down  upon 
Japan. 

Following  the  course  pointed  out,  Baffin  readied, 
on  the  30th  of  May,  Hope  Sanderson,  the  farthest 
point  of  Davis's  progress,  and  soon  afterwai'd  came  to 
a  number  of  small  islands  on  which  they  found  only 


MEMORABLE   DISCOVERIES. 


107 


females,  some  of  very  great  age.  These  at  fii'st  ran 
and  liicl  tlicinselvos  umong  tlio  rocks ;  but  the  sallom 
liaving  rcfic'luMl  two  dames,  one  of  Avhom  Avas  estima- 
ted at  fourscore,  aud  liavlng  prescutcd  to  tluau  bits 
of  ii'oii  aud  the  usual  toys,  the  latter  carried  a  fa« 
voral)le  report  to  their  youthful  countiy  women. 
The  Avhole  l)arty  soon  came  down  to  the  shore,  and 
four  even  "weut  on  board  tlu^  boat.  The  charms  of 
these  ladies  were  heightened  or  disiigured  by  long 
black  streaks  made  in  their  youth  Avith  a  sharp  Instni- 
meut,  and  lodged  so  deep  that  they  could  not  now  be 
effaced. 

The  navigators  sailed  onwards  in  hit.  74°,  wlicn 
they  Avere  arrested  by  a  large  body  of  ice,  ,'uul  obliged 
to  turn  into  a  neighboring  sound  to  wait  its  melting. 
Here  they  recei\'ed  rejieated  visits  from  about  forty 
natives,  the  only  acconnt  of  w'hoin  is,  that  they 
brought  an  extraordinary  <piantity  of  the  bones  of 
sea-nnicorns  or  narwals,  great  numbers  of  which  were 
seen  sAvimmini;  in  the  water.  Hence  this  was  called 
Horn  Sound.  The  mass  of  ice  now  dissolved  before 
the  powei-ful  influence  of  the  sun,  and  the  discoverers 
sailed  northwards  amonij  its  frasxment!-; ;  but  still,  snow 
fell  every  day,  and  the  shrouds  and  sails  were  often 
so  hard  frozen  as  to  make  it  Impossible  to  handle 
them. 

After  having  experienced  a  severe  storm,  the  expe- 
dition discovered  a  sound,  which  Avould  have  sup[)li(Hl 
them  with  a  multitude  of  whales  had  they  been  ])to- 
vided  with  the  means  of  capture :  this  they  called 
Whale  Sound.  Xext,  in  78*^,  appeared  another  inlet, 
the  -widest  and  greatest  in  all  this  sea,  and  Avhich  was 
named  after  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  one  of  the*  main  pro- 
moters  of    discover}'.     This   opening,   Avhlch   Baffin 


:!  It 


i| 


i        i-       tfl'il- 


I''       (f     -!f 


M 


iii 


ll ' 


I 


4 


ill 


I  ■ 


108 


MEMORABLE   DISCOVERIES. 


seems  to  have  examined  very  superfcially,  abounded 
almost  equally  in  shales,  and  caused  particular  aston- 
ishment by  the  extraordinary  variation  of  the  needle, 
to  which  nothing  similar  had  ever  been  witnessed. 
Between  these  two  sounds  was  an  island  wliich  was 
named  Ilakluyt,  after  the  venerable  recorder  of  early 
English  discoveries. 

Proceeding  now  along  the  south-western  boun<laiy 
of  this  great  sea,  the  next  "  fair  sound  "  received  the 
name  of  Alderman  Jones,  a  patron  of  the  enterprise. 
In  lat.  74^^,  there  appeared  another  broad  opening 
which  Avas  called  Sir  James  Lancaster's  Sound ;  but 
while  Baffin  calls  it  great,  he  seems  scarcelv  to  have 
noticed  this  future  entrance  into  the  Polar  Sea ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  observes,  at  the  very  same  moment, 
that  the  hope  of  a  passage  became  every  day  less  and 
less.  He  sailed  on ;  but  a  bnrrier  of  ice  prevented 
him  from  approaching  the  shore  till  he  came  within 
the  "indraft"  of  Cumberland's  Isles,  "where  hope  oi 
passage  could  be  none." 

Finding  the  health  of  his  creAV  rather  declining,  he 
sailed  across  to  Greenland,  where  an  abundance  of 
scurvy-grass  boiled  in  beer  quickly  restored  them  ;  and 
"the  Loi'd  then  sent  a  speedy  and  good  passage 
homeward." 

On  returning,  Baffin  expressed  the  most  decided 
conviction  that  the  gi'eat  sea  wliich  he  had  traversed 
was  a  bay  enclosed  on  all  sides,  and  affording  no 
opening  into  any  ocean  to  the  Avestward ;  and  his 
judgment  was  received  by  the  public,  who  named  it 
from  him  Baffin's  Bay.  lie  forcibly,  lioweA'-er,  repre- 
sented the  great  opportunities  which  it  afforded  for 
the  Avhale-fislier}',  as  those  huge  aninuils  were  seen 
sleeping  in  vast  numbei-s  on  the  surface  of  the  water, 


ARCTIC    AURORA. 


J 

\ 

1  i 

Im'  .1  '■ 

VIKW    ON    TIIK    SPITZBKROKN    COAST. 


i!     1 


1  ; 

1  1 

i 
1 

1 

i 

.: 

I 

i 

II 

- 

i 

Ihl 

■viH 

11 

f 

A 

^!r, 

fotherby's  voyage. 


Ill 


without  fear  of  the  ship  "  or  of  anything  else." 
Baffin  was  killed  near  Ormuz  in  1C21,  while  engaged 
in  an  expedition  against  the  Portuguese. 

In  1()15,  Fotherby  who  had  just  returned  from  a 
voyage  with  Baffin,  was  sent  out  in  the  Richard,  a 
pinnace  of  only  twenty  tons.  After  many  conflicts 
with  ice  and  foe:,  he  reached  Ilakluvt's  Headland 
about  the  beginning  of  July.  He  soon  began  his  career 
of  discovery  ;  but  a  strong  southerly  gale  driving  him 
upon  the  ice,  shattered  his  bai'k  consideral)ly,  and 
obliged  him  to  return.  As  soon  as  his  vessel  was  re- 
fitted, he  endeavored  by  a  westerly  course  to  find  an 
opening  among  the  ice,  which  projected  in  varioup 
points  and  capes,  but  Avas  drifted  by  it  far  to  the 
southward,  where  he  descried  a  snowy  hill  very  high 
amid  the  clouds;  and  the  fog  lying  on  each  side  made 
it  appear  like  a  great  continent. 

It  proved,  however,  to  be  only  an  island — probably 
Jan  Mayen  ;  and  as  the  shores  presented  nothing  but 
drift-wood,  and  appeared  as  if  fortified  with  castles 
and  bulwai'ks  of  rock,  no  sheltei'  Avas  affoi'ded  from  a 
heavy  gale  Avhich  began  to  blow.  This  induced  him 
to  stand  out  as^ain  to  sea.  He  reoained  the  northern 
point  of  Spitzbergeu,  and  began  to  beat  for  a  Polar 
passage.  The  wind,  however,  blew  so  strong  from 
thenorth-noi'th-east  that  he  gave  up  the  attempt,  only 
resolving,  on  his  way  home,  to  take  a  survey  of  Hud- 
son's IIold-^vith-IIope.  He  came  to  the  place  Avhere 
it  ought  to  have  been,  but  finding  no  land  he  iui^isted 
that  Hudson  must  have  l)een  mistaken  in  the  position 
assigned  to  it.  Availing  himself  then  of  a  biisk 
northerly  breeze,  he  sailed  for  England 

Fotherby,  on  being  asked  as  to  the  prospects  of  a 
passage  through  these  seas,  replied  that  though  he  had 


U\ 


112 


DAlflSH   EXPEDITIOX. 


:E!j' 
I 


not  attained  in  this  respect  Lis  desire,  nothing  yet  ap- 
peared to  exclude  hope.  There  was  a  spacious  sea 
between  Greenland  and  Spitzbergen,  though  much 
incumbered  with  ice ;  and  he  would  not  dissuade 
the  "  worshipful  company  "  from  a  yearly  adventure  of 
£200.  The  little  j^innace,  with  ten  men,  in  which  he 
had  sailed  two  thousand  leagues,  appeared  to  him 
more  convenient  for  that  purpose  than  any  of  larger 
dimensions. 

Denmark,  which  had  always  felt  a  natural  interest 
in  northern  navigation,  subsequently  made  an  attempt 
to  follow  up  the  success  of  Hudson  and  Baffin.  In  1(31 9, 
Christian  IV.  sent  out  two  well-appointed  vessels 
under  Jens  Munk,  who  had  the  reputation  of  a  good 
seaman.  He  succeeded  in  penetrating  through  Hud- 
son's Straits  into  Hudson's  Bay,  where  he  took  uj^on 
himself  to  chanj^e  the  whole  nomenclature  of  that  re- 
gion,  imposing  the  names  of  Christian's  Straits  and 
Christian's  Sea,  and  calling  the  western  coast  New 
Denmark.  But  this  innovation,  which  was  contrary 
to  every  princi[)le  recognized  in  such  cases,  has  not 
been  confirmed  by  posterity. 

When  September  arrived,  and  the  ice  began  to 
form,  Munk  established  himself  in  winter  (quarters 
at  the  entrance  of  Chestei-field  Inlet.  The  season 
seemed  to  open  with  the  best  promise,  commodious 
huts  Avere  constructed,  and  there  were  both  abundance 
and  variety  of  game.  The  Danes  saw  some  brilliant 
aerial  phenomena — at  one  time  three  suns  in  the  sky, 
and  the  moon  environed  by  a  transparent  circle,  with- 
in which  was  a  cross  cutting  through  its  centre ;  but, 
instead  of  amusing  their  minds  with  these  beautiful 
appearances,  they  were  depressed  by  viewing  them  as 
a  mysterious  presage  of  future  evils. 


MUNK  S    DISASTROUS   VOYAGE. 


113 


Frost  now  set  in  with  all  its  intensity ;  their  beer, 
wine  and  other  liquors  were  converted  into  ice  ;  the 
scur\'y  began  its  ravages,  and,  ignorant  of  the  mode 
of  treating  it,  they  employed  no  remedy  except  a 
large  quantity  of  spirits,  which  has  always  been  found 
to  aggravate  that  fi'ightful  disorder.  Unfit  for  the 
exertion  necessary  to  secure  the  game  with  which  the 
country  abounded,  they  soon  had  famine  added  to 
their  other  distresses.  Their  miseries  seem  to  have 
been  almost  mthout  a  parallel,  even  in  the  dark  an- 
nals of  northern  navioration.  Munk  himself  was  left 
four  days  in  his  hut  without  food,  and  on  crawling 
out,  found  that  of  the  original  crew  of  fifty-two,  only 
two  survived. 

The  three  men  now  determined  to  make  an  effort 
to  preserve  life.  Gathering  strength  from  despair, 
they  dug  into  the  snow,  under  which  they  found  herbs 
and  grass,  whicli  being  of  an  anti-scorbutic  quality 
soon  produced  a  degree  of  amendment.  Being  then 
able  to  fish  and  shoot,  they  gradually  regained  their 
natural  \'igor.  They  equipped  anew  tlie  smaller  of 
the  two  vessels,  in  Avliich  they  reached  home  on  the 
25th  of  September,  1620,  after  a  stormy  and  perilous 
voyage. 

Munk  declared  his  readiness  to  sail  again ;  and 
there  are  various  reports  as  to  the  cause  why  he  did 
not.  Some  say,  that  having  in  a  conference  with  the 
king,  been  stung  by  some  expressions  which  seemed 
to  impute  the  disasters  of  the  voyage  to  his  misman- 
agement, he  died  of  a  broken  heart.  But  Forster  re- 
lates, that  during  several  successive  years  he  was 
em[)loyed  by  the  king  on  the  North  Sea  and  in  the 
Elbe,  and  that  he  died  in  1628,  when  engaged  in  a 
naval  expedition. 


hii 


V 


1. 1 


IV 


1 

«Fi 

i 

1 

Kll;] 

i 

f '''  ^*'' ' 

'M 

?'  ^'' 

l! 

.i: 

', 

t     ■        !'      . 

' ' 

' 

II 


i^  i^^: 


i  I  i  „. 


114 


TlIE   FOX    AND    JAaAIES    EXPEDITION. 


In  1631  an  Eiiglisli  Expedition  of  two  ships  com- 
manded l)y  Ca])tains  Fox  and  James,  was  sent  to  ex- 
amine Hudson's  Bay.  Fox  ex])lored  tlie  cliannels  on 
each  si(l(!  of  Southampton  Ishmd ;  that  on  the  Avest- 
ern  side  lie  named  Hoe's  AVelcome  ;  tlie  other  one  lie 
called  from  his  own  name,  Fox  Channel. 

Capt.  James  sailed  to  the  southerly  shores  of  Hud- 
son's Bay,  and  as  winter  came  on  found  a  harLor  in 
what  is  nf)W  known  as  James's  Bay.  SnoAv  soon  fell  to  a 
great  depth,  the  sails  were  frozen  stiff,  and  tlie  caldes 
from  accumulated  ice  became  as  thick  as  a  man's  body. 

Preparations  were  now  made  for  a  long  resi(h:mce 
at  this  place;  wood  was  cut  for  fuel,  and  search  was 
made  in  every  direction  for  traces  of  human  beings, 
but  none  were  found.  A  house  was  erected  on  shore 
in  Avhich  a  portion  of  the  crew  slept  at  night,  armed 
with  muskets  to  defend  themselves  in  case  of  attack. 
The  main-sail  was  used  as  a  covering  for  the  house. 
A  well  was  dug,  and  the  men  spent  much  of  their 
time  in  trapping  and  hunting  foxes  and  other  animals. 

In  October,  six  of  the  men  set  out  with  dogs  to  hunt 
deer  whose  tracks  liad  been  seen,  and  returned  next 
day  with  only  one  small  animal,  having  passed  a  mis- 
erable night  in  the  woods.  Another  jiarty  which 
went  out  was  entirely  unsuccessful  in  their  hunt,  and 
lost  one  of  their  number  who  was  drowned  Avlien 
crossing  a  fi'ozen  pond. 

As  the  cold  increased  the  ship  was  entirely  covered 
with  snow  and  ice ;  and  it  was  so  beaten  about  against 
the  ice  by  the  winds  and  currents  that  there  was  great 
danger  of  its  being  destroyed.  The  captain  noAv  pro- 
posed to  bore  holes  in  the  ship  and  sink  it  in  shallow 
water,  where  it  might  safely  remain  till  spring,  wlien, 
perhaps,  it  could  be  again  floated.     This  was  a  fear- 


PAKHKLIA. 


THK    ICK- BOUND    UAKBOK. 


>mm<', 


'•  }? 


A   WINTEB   OF   SUFFEKIXO 


117 


ful  expedient ;  but  after  ull  the  provisions  and  articles 
needed liad  been  taken  on  shore,  it  was  adopted;  al- 
though the  crew,  generally  never  supposed  that  the  ship 
could  be  laised  amin. 

They  had  much  confidence  in  their  captain  and 
obeyed  all  his  commands  iraplicitl}'.  ''^"  If,"  said  he, 
"  we  end  our  days  here,  Ave  are  as  near  heaven  as  in 
England;  and  we  are  much  bound  to  God  Almighty, 
for  having  gi\'en  us  so  large  a  time  for  r(?pcntance, 
and  having  thus,  as  it  were,  daily  called  upon  us  to 
prepare  our  souls  for  a  better  life  in  heaven.  He 
does  not,  in  tlie  meantime  deii}'  that  we  may  use  all 
j^roper  means  to  save  and  prolong  our  lives ;  and  in 
my  Judgment,  Ave  are  not  so  far  past  hope  of  return- 
ing to  our  native  country,  but  that  I  see  a  fair  Avay 
by  Avhich  we  may  eiiect  it.' 

Under  direction  of  the  carpenter  timber  was  cut,  and 
the  building  of  a  large  boat  was  begun,  in  which  they 
might  escape  if  the  ship  was  destroyed.  All  worked 
hai'd  upon  it,  and  the  carpenter  ]:)ecame  so  ill  and  weak 
that  he  could  scarcely  Avalk  and  subsequently  died. 
Tlie  shoes  of  the  men  Avei-e  all  Avorn  out,  and  they 
suffered  much  from  cohl  for  many  successive  months. 

During  all  this  season  of  (li^;ti'ess  Captain  James 
and  his  creAV  ncA^er  omitted  rcLfular  devotional  ser- 
vices.  They  particularly  solemnized  Easter  day,  the 
2{)th  of  April  10;>2  ;  and  on  that  day  Avhile  they  Avere 
sitting  round  their  fire,  the  captain  })r()posed  to  attempt, 
on  the  first  opening  of  the  Avarm  Aveather,  to  clear  the 
ship  of  ice.  This  was  considered  by  some  of  the  crew 
impossible ;  because  they  believed  her  to  be  filled  A^'ith 
one  solid  mass  of  ice.  The  attempt,  hoAvever,  Avas  re- 
solved upon  ;  but  their  only  implements  for  the  work 
were  two  iron  bars  and  four  broken  shovels. 


m 


118 


ITNAL  ESCAPE. 


! 


;f|1 


1    J 


i  I 


r   ii '« 


The  time  passed  miserably  on,  till  the  middle  of 
May,  when  efforts  were  made  to  clear  the  decks  of 
snow.  From  this  period  the  vessel  began  to  occupy 
much  of  the  attention  of  the  captain  and  his  crew. 
The  great  cabin  was  found  to  be  free  from  ice 
and  water,  and  a  fire  was  lighted  to  clear  and 
dry  it.  One  of  the  anchors,  which  Avas  supposed 
to  have  been  lost,  was  found  under  the  ice  and  recov- 
ered. Soon  afterwards  they  came  to  a  cask,  and  found 
it  full  of  good  beer ;  which  was  a  cause  of  great  i-e- 
joiclng. 

They  then  dug  through  the  ice  on  the  outside  oi 
the  vessel,  and  plugged  the  holes  made  in  scuttling  it. 
The  weather  grew  warmer  which  thawed  the  ice  in 
the  hold,  the  water  was  punuied  out,  and  many  barrels 
of  beer  and  salt  beef  were  found  in  good  condition. 

Open  water  first  appeared  on  the  19th  of  June ; 
four  days  after  the  ship  was  reloaded,  and  the  sails 
reset.  A  cross  was  then  erected  on  land,  and  to  the 
top  of  it  were  tied  pictures  of  the  king  and  queen. 
On  the  2d  day  of  July,  after  the  captain  and  his  crew 
had  all  devoutly  paid  thanksgiving  to  the  Almighty 
for  their  providential  deliverance,  they  weighed 
anchor,  and  proceeded  on  their  voyage,  and  reached 
England  in  October. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company^  an  association  of  mer- 
chants was  organized  in  1670  under  the  patronage  of 
Prince  Rupert,  second  cousin  of  Charles  II.  Its  very 
favorable  charter  conferred  on  them  the  right  to  the 
exclusive  trade  of  the  region,  and  territorial  posses- 
sion of  the  vast  domain.  It  imposed  on  the  Com- 
pany the  duty  of  making  strenuous  exertions  for  the 
discovery  of  a  western  passage ;  but  its  officers  paid 
little  attention  to  the  subject  till  1719  when  they  fit- 


A   LOST    EXPEDITION 


119 


ted  out  an  expedition  under  Kniglit  and  Barlow. 
These  officers  never  returned,  and  a  vessel  sent  next 
j'ear  under  Captain  Scroggs  could  learn  no  tidings 
of  tlieui.  Nor  was  it  till  nearly  fifty  years  afterward 
that  the  wrecks  of  their  armament  were  found  on 
Marl)le  Island,  where  they  had  been  cast  ashore. 

In  1741,  Captain  Middleton  obtained  the  command 
of  two  vessels,  with  which  he  examined  Wager  Inlet, 
and  then  sailed  up  Hoe's  Welcome — a  channel  lying 
west  of  Southampton  Island — to  its  northern  extremity. 
Here  he  found  a  spacious  opening,  which  gave  him  at 
first  great  hopes  of  success ;  but  finding  it  shut  in  by 
land,  he  named  it  llepulse  Bay.  lie  then  followed 
the  coast  in  an  easterly  direction  till  he  came  to  a 
channel,  which,  from  the  accumulation  of  ice  at  its 
entrance,  he  called  the  Frozen  Strait.  He  returned 
lionie,  expressing  a  decided  conviction  that  no  practi- 
cable passage  existed  in  that  direction. 

Mr.  Dobbs,  the  mover  of  the  expedition,  was  deeply 
disappointed  l)y  this  result ;  and  from  liis  o^vn  reflec- 
tions, and  the  statement  of  several  of  the  Inferior  offi- 
cers, became  satisfied  that  Middleton  had  given  a  verj'' 
false  and  imperfect  statement  of  the  facts ;  though  such 
was  not  the  case.  £1 0,000  was  subscribed  for  a  new 
expedition,  and  a  standing  off er  of  a  reward  of  £'20,000 
to  the  discoverers  of  a  Nor'tli-"vvest  passage  was  made 
by  the  English  government. 

Captains  Moor  and  Smith  commanded  this  new 
expedition,  which  sailed  in  174(5;  like  many  others 
equipped  with  peculiar  '  -^p^p  and  circumstance,  it 
entirely  failed.  They  n.  .  A  ascertained,  what  was 
pretty  well  known  before,  that  the  Wager  Inlet 
afforded  no  passage ;  and  after  spending  a  severe 
winter    there,  returned  to  England. 


ii 


111 


^  ii 


n 


120 


IIKUNE    AND    PlIIPPS. 


■»■, 


1  ,1) 


:  .li 


|!h:|;i||i|ii 


In  1770,  Samuel  IIoriK^,  uii  offiecu*  of  tl»<^  Iludaon'a 
Bay  Company,  descended  to  tlie  moiitli  of  the  Cop- 
j)(!nnine  Iliver,  and  thus  openinl  the  way  for  8ul)He- 
([uent  ex])loreiu  His  journal  of  the  trip  lay  for  many 
years  in  a  "  pigeon-hole  "  at  the  head-quarters  of  the 
company.  When  the  fortunes  of  war  found  the  French 
Admii'al  La  Perouse  the  cajjtor  of  Fort  York,  he 
there  found  Heme's  journal,  read  it,  and  was  so  [)l(^'ised 
with  it  that  he  told  the  officer  that  if  he  would  ])le(lge 
his  honor  that  it  should  be  pul)lished,  he  might  have 
back  his  fort  and  all  that  pertained  to  it.  The  offer 
was  accepted,  the  French  retired,  and  thus  it  came 
about  that  Heme's  record  was  put  in  print. 

In  June,  1773,  an  expedition  under  Captain  John 
Phip])s  (afterward  known  as  Loixl  Mulgrave)  consist- 
ing of  two  b()m])-vessels — the  "  Kacehorse  "  and  the 
"  Carcass " — sailed  fi'om  England  to  seai'ch  for  the 
North  Pole.  The  Carcass  was  commanded  by  Lieut. 
Lutwidge,  under  whom  Horatio  Nelson,  afterward 
the  naval  hero  of  England,  served  as  cockswain.  The 
route  was  up  the  Greenland  Sea,  and  the  highest  lat- 
itude reached  was  80*  48^,  and  the  most  easterly 
point  was  near  the  Seven  Islands  to  the  north  of  Spitz- 
bergen  in  longitude  20*^.  To  the  north  and  north- 
east was  a  solid  pack  of  ice  covered  with  snow. 
Here  the  ships  were  becalmed  and  frozen  in  amid  a 
beautiful  and  picturesque  scene ;  but  as  the  crew  were 
starting  over  the  ice  to  attempt  to  reach  the  Dutch 
whaling-ships,  the  ice  opened  and  the  ships  escaped 
to  the  south  and  reached  England  in  September. 

In  1776,  Captain  Cook  sailed  from  England  on  his 
last  voyage,  and  in  1778  passed  up  Bering's  Strait, 
expecting  to  proceed  along  the  coast  of  America  to 
Baffin's  Bay,  where  a  vessel  was  sent  to  meet  him. 


CAPTAIN    COOK  S    VOYAGE. 


121 


rait, 
to 


But  Lc  was  unaldt'  to ponotnite  fuitlior  l.han  Try  Cape 
on  account  of  tlio  ice,  and  after  examining  tlio  coasts 
on  both  sides  of  the  strait,  he  went  to  the  Snndwich 
Islands,  where  he  was  IdUed  in  an  aftray  with  the 
natives. 

In  1789,  Akxander  Mackenzie  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  great  river  whidi  hears  his  name,  and  looked 
out  on  the  Arctic  Sea.  In  a  second  journey  he  crossed 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  followed  Frazer  Kiver  to 
its  mouth  at  the  Georgian  Gulf,  opposite  Vancouver's 
Island,  where  he  arrived  in  July,  1792. 


rth- 

)W. 


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Itch 

)ed 


Um. 


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r«^ 


4  c  f 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  ARCTIC  AVHALE-FISHERY. 

p  The  Arctic  seas  are  the  native  regions  of  the  true 
whale,  and  he  never  leaves  them.  Man,  ever  search- 
ing for  objects  of  use  and  profit,  early  discovered  in 
these  huge  creatures  a  variety  of  substances  fitted 
for  the  supply  of  important  wants.  No  sooner, 
therefore,  had  the  course  of  discovery  opened  a  way 
into  the  seas  of  the  north,  than  daring  fishermen 
ventured  thither  and  commenced  a  branch  of  com- 
merce which  has  proved  of  great  importance  to  the 
world,  but  which  is  more  full  of  adventure  and  peril, 
than  any  other  occupation  in  which  man  engages  for 
a  livelihood. 

As  early  as  the  ninth  century,  whales  were  cap- 
tured on  the  Norway  coast;  but  they  were  then 
valued  chiefly  for  their  flesh,  which  satisfied  the 
hunger  and  even  gratified  the  tastes  of  primitive  man 
— wli ale's  tongues  being  counted  among  the  luxuries 
of  the  middle  ages.  In  later  years,  when  civilization 
rejected  the  flesh  of  the  whale  as  an  article  of  food, 
the  oil  was  needed  to  supply  the  winter  lamp,  and 
for  other  purposes;  while  the  firm,  flexible,  elastic 
bone  was  found  to  be  peculiai'ly  adapted  for  various 
articles  of  dress,  ornament,  and  common  use. 

The  English  were  the  first  who  pushed  whaling 

122 


ler. 


EARLY  FISni^TG  EXPEDITIONS. 


123 


operations  into  the  liigli  latitudes  of  the  Arctic  seas. 
The  discovery  of  Spitzbergen,  by  Barentz,  was  followed 
hy  the  voyage  of  Stephen  Bennet,  who  re-discovered 
Bear  Island  and  named  it  Cherie  Island.  A  series  of 
voyages  for  the  capture  of  walrus  ensued,  in  which 
Bennet,  Jonas  Poole,  and  others  took  a  part ;  but  the 
attention  of  these  hardy  walrus-hunters  was  soon 
attracted  to  a  game  more  worthy  of  their  steel. 

The  voyages  of  Hudson  led  the  way  to  a  great  and 
flourishing  whaling  trade,  in  which  many  nations 
competed  for  pre-eminence,  and  which  opened  one  of 
the  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  history  of  En- 
glish and  Dutch  commercial  enterprise.  Henceforth, 
for  more  than  two  centuries,  that  part  of  the  frontier 
of  the  unexplored  region  which  extends  from  Spitz- 
bergen to  Greenland,  was  annually  frequented  by 
fleets  of  whalers. 

Hudson,  on  returning  from  his  Polar  voyage,  re- 
ported having  seen  large  numbers  of  whales  along 
the  coast  of  Spitzbergen;  and  in  1611,  the  Muscovy 
Company  sent  out  the  "  Mary  Margaret "  with  every- 
thing then  considered  requisite  for  catching  whales. 
Captain  Edge,  her  commander,  succeeded  in  taking 
one  small  whale,  which  yielded  twelve  tons  of  oil — 
the  first,  he  believed,  that  was  ever  extracted  in  the 
Greenland  seas.  Soon  afterward  the  Mary  Margaret 
was  wrecked,  and  her  crew  in  three  boats  were  found  at 
Spitzbergen  by  Captain  Poole,  of  the  Elizabeth,  a 
craft  of  fifty  tons.  Poole  caught  so  many  wali'us  on 
this  trip,  that  their  hides  caused  the  destruction  of 
his  vessel,  for  they  shifted  in  the  hold  and  capsized 
her.  Poole  and  his  crew  escaped,  and  were  taken' 
home  by  Captain  Marmaduke. 

Notwithstanding  the   unfortunate   termination   of 


124 


THE   SPITZBERGEN    WHALING-GROUNDS. 


i'  ■:«; 


their  first  whaling  venture,  the  Muscovy  'Company 
sent  out  two  shij)s  under  Poole  the  next  season  to 
follow  ujj  the  unclei-taking.  Meantime  the  Dutch, 
intent  on  every  form  of  commercial  adventure,  had 
sent  vessels  to  the  Greenland  seas  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. These  the  Englishmen  considered  as  inter- 
lopers; and  being  the  strongest  party  they  com- 
pelled their  rivals  to  leave.  Next  year  the  same 
company  obtained  a  royal  charter,  prohibiting  all 
besides  themselves  to  intermeddle  in  any  shape  with 
this  valuable  branch  of  industry.  To  make  good 
this  privilege,  the  company  fitted  out  an  expedition 
of  seven  well-armed  ships,  luuler  command  of  William 
BaflRn,  Avho,  on  reaching  the  seas  round  Spitzbergen, 
found  them  filled  with  ships  of  different  nations, 
Dutch,  French,  and  Spanish.  All  were  compelled  to 
depart,  or  to  fish  under  the  condition  of  delivering 
half  of  the  proceeds  to  the  English  as  the  lords  of  the 
northern  seas. 

This  interference  with  the  whaling  vessels  of  other 
uatious,  was  denounced  as  a  flagrant  example  of  the 
tyranny  of  the  new  mistress  of  tlie  ocean;  and  the 
Dutch  determined  not  to  submit,  but  to  repel  force 
by  force.  For  this  j)urpose,  they  sent  out  fleets  so 
numerous  and  so  well-armed,  that  for  some  years  thei-e 
was  but  slight  interference  with  their  rights.  At 
length,  in  1G18,  a  general  encounter  took  place,  whicli 
resulted  disastrously  to  the  English,  for  one  of  their 
ships  was  taken  and  carried  to  Amsterdam.  Tht; 
Dutch  government,  anxious  for  peace,  rewarded  the 
caj)tors  but  restored  the  vessel.  This  led  to  a  com- 
promise, and  at  last  to  a  division  of  the  Spitzbergen 
whaling-grounds  among  the  nations  whose  ships  had 
been  accustomed  to  resort  there.     There  waa  plenty 


ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  EDGE. 


125 


of  room  for  all ;  but  business  did  not  prove  profitable 
to  the  English  owners ;  the  gains  of  their  fishery 
were  absorbed  by  losses ;  and,  eventually,  for  many 
years,  scarcely  an  English  ship  sailed  nortliward. 

But  during  the  time  that  English  mariners  were  in 
the  ascendant  in  the  Spitzbergen  waters,  from  the 
voyage  of  stout  Henry  Hudson  in  1607  to  about  1G22, 
they  did  excellent  geographical  work.  Greenland 
was  the  name  applied  in  those  days  to  the  Spitzber- 
gen Archipelago.  In  1013  and  1G14  they  dis- 
covered Hope  Island,  and  other  islands  to  the  south- 
eastward of  Spitzberg(ui.  In  IGIG  Captain  Edge,  one  of 
the  leading  spirits  in  the  early  whaling  enterprises, 
sent  a  pinnace  to  the  eastward,  to  explore  Edge  Island, 
and  other  land  on  the  east  side,  as  far  as  78*^  north. 
This  pinnace  was  a  boat  of  twenty  tons,  with  a  crew 
of  twelve  men.  She  is  portrayed  on  the  curious  old 
chart  of  Spitzbergen  in  "  Purchas's  Pilgrimes,"  pulling 
up  Stor  Fiord.  The  pinnace's  crew  killed  a  thou- 
sand sea-horses  on  Edge  Island,  and  got  1,300  tons 
(barrels?)  of  oil.  In  1(513,  the  Dutch  followed  the 
example,  and  the  Dutch  and  English  seamen  often 
came  to  blows  over  the  exclusive  nsdit  of  the  fisherv. 
One  of  the  English  expeditions  of  this  period  discov- 
ered a  large  island  to  the  eastward  of  Spitzbergcin, 
which  was  never  visited  ao-ain  until  three  Norwegian 
sealing  vessels  reached  it  in  1872.  This  discovery  is 
thus  recorded  in  Purehas  : — 

"In  the  yeare  1617  the  Com])any  set  out  for  Green- 
land fourteene  sayle  of  ships,  and  their  two  pinnasses, 
furnished  with  a  sufficient  number  of  men  and  all 
other  provisions  fitting  for  the  voyage,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Thomas  Edge.  .  .  .  They  employed  a  ship  of 
sixtietunnes,  with  twenty  men  in  her,  who  discovered 


wmmmffmmm 


llllf'' 


U: 


l> 


.ft  1 1 


ANCIEST  MAP  OF  SPITZBEKGEN-FKOM  "  PUBCHAS  HIS  PILUIilMS." 


DUTCH  ENTEllPUISE — A  DESERTED  MLLAOE. 


127 


to  the  eastward  of  Greenland,  as  far  to  the  nortli- 
wards  as  seveutie-nine  degrees,  an  iland  which  he 
named  Wiches  Iland,  and  divers  other  ilauds  as  bv 
the  map  appeareth,  and  killed  stoie  of  sea-iiorses 
there,  and  then  came  into  Bel  Sound,  where  he  found 
his  lading  of  oyle  left  by  the  captayne,  which  he 
tooke  in.  This  yeare  the  Hull  men  set  a  small  ship 
or  two  to  the  eastwards  of  Greenland,  for  the  Hull 
men  still  followed  the  steps  of  the  Londoners,  and  in 
a  yeare  or  two  called  it  their  discoverie,  which  is  false, 
and  untrue,  as  by  oath  in  the  Admiraltie  doth  ap- 
peare.     The  Dutch  likewise  practice  the  same  course." 

The  Dutch  whale-fisheries,  unlike  those  of  the 
English,  became  the  source  of  great  national  wealth. 
An  immense  capital  was  invested  in  the  business,  and 
it  was  carried  on  with  characteristic  ])rudence,  dili- 
gence, and  consequent  success.  A  settlement  was 
founded  at  the  Smeerenberg  Bay  at  the  north-west 
coi'ner  of  Spitzbergen,  where  the  re<|uisite  apparatus 
for  extracting  oil  and  bone  was  erected  on  an  immense 
scale.  During  the  summer,  Smeerenberg  was  a 
crowded  and  populous  village,  and  in  this  dreary 
corner  of  the  \vorld  were  to  he  found  many  of  the 
luxuries  of  civilized  life. 

But  a  chano-e  came  over  Smeerenbery;.  Gradually 
and  at  last  almost  entirel}^  the  whales,deserted  its  bay 
and  sought  refuge  in  distant  waters.  Thither  their  pur- 
suers followed  them,  and  at  last,  finding  the  expense; 
and  delay  of  conveying  their  prizes  to  Smeerenberg 
too  onerous,  they  contrived  an  arrangement  ])y 
which  the  whale,  being  fastened  to  the  sides  of  the 
ship,  was  cleared  of  its  blubber  and  bone.  Smeeren- 
])erg  then  lost  every  foundation  on  which  its  pros- 
i)erity  had  rested.  The  furnaces,  tanks  and  other 
8 


i^i 


111 


128 


A    WINTER   IN    SPITZBERGEN. 


ill! 


Ml 
nilli 


mw'\ 


M  ii! 


I  lb 


articles  were  carried  away,  and  it  is  now  difficult  to 
trace  the  spot  on  which  stood  that  once  flourishing 
village,  in  whose  bay  there  had  sometimes  been  as 
many  as  two  hundred  vessels. 

In  1638,  the  Dutch  planned  another  settlement  fur- 
ther to  the  north,  and  seven  sailors  volunteered  for 
this  arduous  undertakinii:.  On  the  30th  of  Aug;ust 
the  fleet  left  them  in  North  Bay,  where  they  not  only 
undertook  to  live  during  the  winter,  but  even  to  pro- 
vide themselves  with  fresh  provisions.  They  visited 
all  the  surroundinij  shores,  took  three  reindeer  and  a 
number  of  sea-swallows,  collecting  also  a  great  quan- 
tity of  a  species  of  watercress.  Their  great  ambition 
was  to  catch  a  whale  ;  but,  though  tantalized  by  the 
sight  of  many,  all  their  attempts  failed. 

Severe  cold  began  to  be  felt  in  October,  and  on  the 
15th,  only  a  small  portion  of  the  sun's  disk  could  be 
seen  above  the  horizon,  and  in  a  few  days  it  entirely 
disappeared  ;  there  was  still  a  foint  twilight  of  eight 
hours,  which  was  soon  reduced  to  five,  and  became 
every  day  shorter  and  shoiter.  In  November,  the 
cold  increased  to  the  utmost  pitch ;  they  could  not 
sleep  in  their  beds,  but  were  obliged  either  to  crouch 
over  the  fire,  or  run  full  speed  through  the  hut,  to 
keep  up  the  vital  energy.  At  length  they  ranged  all 
their  couches  round  tlie  fire-place  and  a  stove,  yet  still 
found  i'j  necessary  to  lay  themselves  down  between 
the  stove  and  the  fire,  holding  their  feet  to  the  very 
embei's. 

Nic-ht  and  winter  continued  in  their  utmost  in  ten- 
sity  till  the  22d  of  January,  when  they  again  enjoyed 
a  twilight  of  six  hours ;  at  midday  of  the  2Cth,  tlieie 
was  no  longer  a  star  to  be  seen ;  but  it  was  on  the 
22d  of  February  ere,  from  a  mountain-top,  they  could 


't 

S' 


<'  I.^ 


FIGHTING    THE   TIGER. 


129 


descry  any  portion  of  tlie  sun's  disk.  Throughout 
the  whole  period  they  had  dreadful  contests  with  the 
Polar  bear. 

Thus  these  seven  persons  passed  through  this  liard 
winter  without  any  severe  attack  of  scurvy ;  and  on 
the  27th  of  May  they  wore  overjoyed  by  the  view  of 
a  boat,  Avhich  conveyed  them  to  a  neighboring  bay, 
where  seven  Dutch  ships  had  assembled  for  the  fishery. 

The  success  of  this  experiment  induced  the  Dutch 
Company  to  repeat  the  attempt  in  the  following  year, 
when  seven  other  sailors,  well  furnished  with  victuals, 
and  apparently  with  every  means  of  withstanding  the 
rigor  of  the  climate,  undertook  to  winter  in  Spitz- 
bergen.  They  appear,  however,  to  have  been  of  a 
less  active  disposition  than  their  predecessoi's,  and 
failed  in  every  attempt  to  procure  fresh  victuals. 
The  sun  having  quitted  them  on  the  20th  of  October, 
they  shut  themselves  up  in  their  hut,  out  of  which 
they  scarcely  ever  stirred.  In  a  few  Aveeks  they  were 
attacked  by  scui'vy  under  its  most  malignant  form, 
which,  amid  this  recluse  life,  and  in  the  absence  of 
fresh  meat  and  vegetables,  assumed  continually  a 
more  alarming  type,  till  three  died,  whose  bodies  the 
others  with  difficulty  enclosed  in  coffins.  The  sur- 
vivors killed  a  dog  and  a  fox,  which  afforded  some 
relief,  but  not  enough  to  arrest  the  pi'ogress  of  the 
malady.  The  bears  began  to  ap])roacli  the  hut,  and 
would  have  been  a  blessing,  had  the  men  retained 
strene-th  either  to  shoot  the  animals  or  to  drair  home 
the  carcass.  The  sun  appeared  on  the  24tli  of  Feb- 
ruary; but  they  could  no  longer  derive  aid  from  this 
benignant  luminary.  The  last  entry  in  their  journal 
is  in  the  following  terms : — 

"We  are  all  four  stretched  on  our  beds,  and  are 


y^Mt 


130 


AN    ARCTIC    Tit  AG  ED  Y. 


..i 


:  it  i 


mA 


■■ 


p-'>\r 


still  alive,  and  would  eat  willingly,  if  any  one  of  us 
were  able  to  rise  and  light  a  fire.  We  im})lore  the 
Almighty,  with  folded  hands,  to  deliver  us  from  this 
life,  which  it  is  impossible  to  prolong  Avithout  food  or 
any  thing  to  warm  our  frozen  limbs.  None  of  us  can 
help  the  other,  each  must  supjjort  his  own  misery." 

Early  in  spring  the  fishing  vessels  arrived,  and  a 
party  hastened  to  the  hut.  They  found  it  so  fast 
closed,  that  an  entrance  could  only  be  effected  by 
opening  the  roof  They  found  it  a  tomb.  Three  of 
the  men  were  enclosed  in  the  coffins  which  had  been 
framed  for  them  ;  the  other  four  Iny  dead,  two  in  their 
beds,  and  two  on  a  piece  of  sail  spread  on  the  floor. 
These  last  had  j^erished  in  consequence  of  mere  ina- 
bility to   make  the  effort  necessary  for  lifting  and 


dressing  the  food. 


About  the  same  time  the  Dutch  made  an  attempt 
to  establish  a  colony  on  Jan  Mayen  Island,  but  witli 
a  result  equally  fatal.  The  journal  of  the  unfortunate 
seamen  contains  little  except  a  register  of  the  weather. 

The  next  instance  of  wintering  in  Spitzbergen  arose 
from  necessity  and  disaster.  A  Russian  vessel  which, 
had  sailed  from  Archangel  for  the  whale-fishery  in 
1743,  being  driven  by  the  wind  to  the  eastern  coast 
of  Spitzbergen,  found  itself  beset  amid  floating  ice 
without  hope  of  deliverance.  One  of  the  party  recol- 
lected that  a  hut  had  been  erected  on  this  coast  by 
some  of  his  countrymen,  under  the  apprehension  of 
being  obliged  to  spend  the  winter  there.  He  and 
three  others  set  out  to  discover  the  place.  With 
much  difficulty  they  reached  the  shore,  leaping  from 
fragment  to  fragment  of  moving  ice;  then,  spread- 
ing themselves  in  different  directions,  they  found  the 
cottage,  which,  though  ruinous,  afforded  shelter  for 
the  night. 


ADVENTURES    OF   RUSSIAN    WHALEMEN. 


131 


Early  in  the  morning  they  liastened  to  the  shore, 
to  convey  to  their  comrades  this  happy  intelligence. 
But  what  must  have  been  their  hoi-ror,  when  they  saw 
only  a  vast  open  sea,  without  a  vestige  of  the  ship,  or 
even  of  the  numerous  icebergs  which  had  been  toss- 
ing through  the  waves  !  A  violent  gale  had  dispersed 
them  all,  and  apparently  also  sunk  the  vessel,  which 
was  never  heard  of  more. 

These  four  unfortunate  seamen,  abandoned  on  this 
dreadful  shore,  having  the  long  winter  to  pass  with- 
out food,  or  arms  and  implements  to  procure  any,  did 
not,  however,  give  way  to  despair.  They  had  a  gun 
with  which  they  shot  twelve  deer ;  then  their  ammu- 
nition failed ;  but  some  pieces  of  iron  were  found  on 
the  shore,  which  they  contrived  to  fashion  into  pikes. 
At  the  moment  when  their  stock  of  venison  was 
nearly  exhausted,  they  found  occasion  to  employ 
these  weapons  against  a  Polar  bear  by  which  they 
were  assailed.  The  animal,  being  vanquished  and 
killed  after  a  formidable  struggle,  supplied  for  the 
present  all  their  wants.  His  flesh  was  food,  his  skin 
clothing,  his  entrails,  duly  prepared,  furnished  the 
string  which  alone  had  been  wanting  to  complete  a 
bow.  With  that  instrument  they  were  more  than  a 
match  for  the  reindeer  and  the  Arctic  fox,  with  the 
spoils  of  which  they  filled  both  their  pantry  and  theii* 
wardrobe;  and  thenceforth  they  avoided,  unless  in 
cases  of  necessity,  the  encounter  of  the  bear.  Being 
destitute  of  cooking  utensils,  they  were  oldiged  to 
devour  the  food  nearly  raw — dried  either  by  suspen- 
sion in  the  smoke  during  the  long  winter,  or  by  ex- 
posure to  the  heat  of  the  sun  during  the  short 
summer.  Yet  this  regular  supply  of  fresh  meat, 
and,  above  all,  the  constant  exercise  to  which  neces- 


>'  • 


132 


SIX    YEARS   OF    PERIL. 


i.    1 


4    ' 


It   iH 


Jil'l 


>''i|!| 


til 


,     ...    J'  '  %■ 


sity  prompted,  enabled  them  to  preserve  their  health 
entire  during  six  years,  in  which  they  looked  in  vain 
for  deliverance.  In  this  time  they  killed  ten  bears, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  reindeer,  and  a  multitude  of 
foxes. 

At  the  end  of  the  six  years  one  of  the  men  died,  when 
the  three  survivors  sunk  into  de8i)ondence,  giving  up 
all  hopes  of  relief,  and  looking  forward  to  the  mo- 
ment when  the  last  of  them  would  become  the  prey 
of  the  bears.  Suddenly,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1749, 
they  descried  a  vessel  at  sea.  They  lighted  fires  on 
the  heiijhts,  hoisted  a  flacr  formed  of  reindeer  skins, 
and  were  at  length  discovered  by  the  shij),  which 
proved   to   belong   to   their   native    country. 

The  exami^le  thus  involuntarily  set  by  these  Rus- 
sian sailors  has  been  followed,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  by  their  countrymen,  some  of  whom  have 
since  regularly  wintei-ed  in  huts  on  the  Spitzbergen 
coast,  and  employed  themselves  in  chasing  the  walrus 
and  seal  along  the  shore,  the  deer  and  Arctic  fox  in 
the  interior.  They  are  constantly  engaged  in  hunt- 
ing, unless  when  interrupted  by  tempest ;  and,  even 
when  the  hut  is  blocked  uj^  with  snow,  they  find 
their  way  out  by  the  chimney. 

Commodore  Jansen,  of  the  Dutch  Navy,  makes  the 
following  interesting  remarks  on  the  Spitzbergen 
fishery  of  his  countrymen  : — "  When  our  Avhalers  first 
came  to  Spitzbergen,  they  met  with  the  whales  in 
great  quantities,  enjoying  all  the  luxury  of  this  most 
exquisite  feeding-ground,  the  best  perhaps  in  the 
whole  Arctic  region.  The  whales  were  found  spoi*"- 
ing  in  open  water  oif  shore,  with  their  huge  back'* 
above  water,  or  taking  their  siesta  in  a  calm  bay, 
surrounded  by  abundance  of  food.    This  was  a  most 


THE  whale's  pa  K  a  disk 


1 33 


t 


glorious  time  for  whales — the  paradise  of  their  history. 
In  s{)ite  of  the  yearly  increase  of  whalers,  and  the 
irreat  number  of  whales  that  were  killed  on  the  same 
i-ipot,  they  always  resorted  to  this  favoi'ite  ground. 

"  During  this  first  period,  called  the  '  Shore  I'^ish- 
ery,'  we  had  an  oil-boiling  establishment  at  Smeeren- 
burg,  on  Amsterdam  Island.  Every  year  our  whalers 
went  straight  to  this  island ;  each  vessel  had  six  or 
seven  boats,  and  a  huge  complement  of  men,  who 
were  enijdoyed  in  killing  Avhales,  bringing  them 
ashore,  and  making  oil  as  fast  as  possilde.  Thousands 
and  thousands  of  whales  were  killed,  and  at  last, 
from  about  1G40-50,  they  ceased  for  a  time  to  come 
at  all  to  the  west  coast  of  Spitzbergen.  As  soon  as 
the  scarcity  of  whales  was  felt,  the  directors  of  the 
Dutch  Whaling  Company  made  great  efforts  to  follow 
them  to  their  place  of  retreat.  Several  ships  were 
sent  out  on  exploring  expeditions,  but  they  did  not 
find  any  islands  besides  those  round  Spitzbergen,  nor 
any  whaling-ground  as  easy  and  profitable  as  Smeer- 
enburg  and  its  vicinity  had  been." 

The  year  1777  was  one  Avliich  exhibited,  on  a  large 
scale,  all  the  vicissitudes  of  this  occupation.  Captain 
Broerties,  in  the  Guillamine,  arrived  that  year  on  the 
22d  of  June  at  the  great  bank  of  northern  ice,  where 
he  found  fifty  vessels  moored  and  busied  in  the  fishery. 
The  day  after,  a  tempest  drove  in  the  ice  Avith  such 
violence  that  twenty-seven  of  the  ships  were  beset, 
of  which  ten  w^ere  lost.  The  Guillamine  with  four 
other  ships,  succeeded  in  reaching  a  narrow  basin, 
enclosed  by  icy  barriers  on  every  side. 

On  the  1st  of  August  the  ice  began  to  gather  thick, 
and  a  violent  storm  driving  it  against  the  vessels, 
placed  them  in  great  peril  for  a  number  of  days.     On 


iiir 

1' ' 

I'M  1! 

! 

B 


t  ♦ 


m    ,.:i 


i  .,;il 


ik 


SniPWRECKS. 


the  20th,  a  dreadful  i^ale  arose  from  tlie  north-east,  in 
which  the  Guilhmiine  suffered  coHsiderabli!  daiiuij^e. 
In  this  awful  tempest,  out  of  the  five  ships  two  went 
down,  a  third  sprung  a  leak,  and  their  erews  were 
taken  on  hoard  of  the  two  remaininri:  harks. 

On  the  25th  these  wei'e  eom])letely  frozen  In,  and  it 
was  resolved  to  send  a  party  of  twelve  men  to  seek 
aid  from  four  vessels  which  a  few  days  hi'fore  had 
been  driven  into  a  station  at  a  little  distance ;  l)ut  by 
the  time  of  their  airival,  two  of  these  had  been  dashed 
to  pieces,  and  the  others  were  in  the  most  deplorable 
condition. 

Meantime  the  Guillamine  and  her  companions 
drifted  in  sight  of  Gale  Ilamkes'  Land,  in  Greenland, 
and  the  tempest  still  pushing  them  gradually  to  the 
southward,  Iceland  at  length  appeared  on  their  left. 
The  crews  were  beginning  to  hoj)e  that  they  might 
reach  a  harbor,  when,  on  the  l.^th  of  September,  a 
whole  mountain  of  ice  fell  upon  the  Guillamine. 
The  men,  half  naked,  leaped  out  ni)on  the  frozen  sur- 
face, saving  with  difficulty  a  small  portion  of  their 
provisions.  The  broken  remnants  of  the  vessel  were 
soon  buried  under  enormous  piles  of  ice.  By  leaping 
from  one  fragment  of  ice  to  another,  the  men  contrived 
to  reach  the  other  vessel,  which,  though  in  extremti 
distress,  received  them  on  board.  Shattered  and 
overcrowded,  she  was  obliged  immediately  after  to 
accommodate  fifty  other  seamen,  the  crew  of  another 
vessel  which  had  just  gone  down,  the  chief  har- 
pooner  and  twelve  of  the  mariners  having  perished. 
These  numerous  companies,  squeezed  into  one  crazy 
bai'k,  suffered  every  kind  of  distress,  and  famine,  in 
its  most  direful  forms,  began  to  stare  them  in  the 
face. 


MEMORIALS    OF   THE    HOLLANDERS. 


135 


All  rt'iiioter  fearis,  howovor,  gav(i  way,  when  in 
October,  the  vessel  went  to  pieces  in  the  same  sud- 
den manner  as  the  others,  leaving  to  the  unfortunate 
sailors  scarcely  time  enough  to  leap  iijion  the  ice 
with  their  remaining  stores.  With  great  difficulty 
they  I'eached  a  field  of  sonu!  extent,  and  contrived 
Avitli  their  torn  sails  to  rear  a  sort  of  covering;  but, 
sensible  that,  by  remaining  on  this  desolate  spot,  they 
must  certainly  perish,  they  saw  no  safety  except  in 
scrambling  over  the  frozen  surface  to  the  coast  of 
Greenland,  which  W'as  in  view.  With  infinite  toil 
they  effected  their  object,  and  ha})pily  met  some 
inhabitants  who  i-eceived  them  liospitably,  and 
regaled  them  with  dried  fish  and  seals'  flesh.  Thence 
they  puslied  across  that  dreary  I'egion,  treated  some- 
times well,  sometimes  churlishly ;  but  by  one  means 
or  other  they  succeeded  at  length,  on  the  13th  of 
March,  in  reaching  the  Danish  settlement  of  Frede- 
rikshaab,  where  they  were  received  with  the  utmost 
kindness. 

The  whaling  trade  of  the  Hollanders  gradually  came 
to  an  end  in  the  last  half  of  the  last  century.  Many 
names  round  the  Spitsbergen  i^hores,  and  large  num- 
bers of  graves,  remain  as  memorials  of  their  former 
hardihood. 


f 


ii 


»    • 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  ARCTIC  WHALE-FISHERY. 

(CONTINUI'T).) 

Ii^  1719  the  Dutch  opened  a  whale-fishery  in 
Davis'  Strait,  wliich  proved  very  remunerative  and 
comparatively  safe ;  for,  in  a  pei'iod  of  sixty  ye^irs, 
out  of  over  three  thousand  ships  fishing  there,  only 
sixty-two  were  Avrecked.  English  whalers  soon 
began  to  frequent  the  same  fishery ;  but  in  spite  of 
old  William  Baifin's  judicial  advice,  no  vessel  ever 
followed  in  liis  track  until  1817,  and  the  whales  were 
permitted  to  remain  for  two  centuries  in  tranquil 
enjoyment  of  the  North  Water  of  Bafiin's  Bay. 
Baffin  had  gallantly  led  the  way  thither  and  no  man 
had  dared  to  follow  him.  At  last  two  English  whalers 
successfully  passed  the  middle  pack,  and  found 
whales  so  plenty  that  from  that  day  to  this,  veiy  i'ew 
years  have  passed  during  which  whalers  have  not 
forced  that  bari'ior. 

Melville  Bay  used  to  be  a  place  of  dread  and  anxi- 
ety for  the  whaling  fleet ;  for  whei'  a  southerly  wind 
brouglit  the  drifting  pack  in  violent  and  irresistible 
contact  with  the  land-lloe,  the  ships,  slowly  creeping 
along  its  edge,  were  frequently  crushed  like  so  many 
walnuts.     In  1819,  as  many  as  fourteen  ships  were 

13G 


t>  i^'  *< 


I: 


WIlALmG  DISASTEKS  IN  MELVILLE  BAY. 


137 


smaslied  to  pieces  in  this  way;  in  1821,  eleven;  and 
in  1822,  seven. 

The  year  1830  was  the  great  season  of  disaster  for 
the  whalers,  for  nineteen  ships  were  entirely  destroyed, 
occasioning  immense  loss.  On  the  19th  of  June,  a 
fresh  gale  from  the  south-west  drove  masses  of  ice 
into  Melville  Bay,  and  nipped  the  whole  fleet  against 
the  land-floe,  about  forty  miles  to  the  southward  of 
Cape  York.  In  the  evening  tlie  gale  increased,  and 
the  floes  began  to  overlap  each  other.  A  huge  floe 
then  came  down  upon  the  devoted  ships,  and  a  scene 
of  indescribable  hori-or  ensued.  In  a  (piarter  of  an 
liour  sev^eral  fine  ships  were  converted  into  shattered 
fragments ;  the  ice,  with  a  loud  grinding  noise,  tore 
open  their  sides,  masts  were  seen  falling  in  all  direc- 
tions, great  snips  were  squeezed  flat  and  thrown 
broadside  on  to  the  ice,  and  one  whaler,  the  "  Rattler," 
was  literally  turned  inside  out.  The  shipwrecked 
sailors  only  just  had  time  to  jump  on  the  ice,  and 
take  refuge  on  board  their  more  fortunate  consorts — 
for  even  in  1830  several  ships  escaped  l)y  digging 
deep  docks  in  the  land  ice.  It  must  be  under- 
>iood  that  there  is  little  dansjer  of  loss  of  life  in 
Melville  Bay,  for  even  if  a  solitary  whaler  is  de- 
stroyed, when  no  other  is  i.;  sight,  the  retreat  in 
boats  to  the  Danish  settlements  is  generally  prac- 
tical^le  and  easy.  When  the  fearful  catastrophe 
occurred  in  1830,  there  were  a  thousand  men  en- 
<;am})ed  on  the  ice,  the  clusters  of  tents  were  a  scene 
of  joyous  dancing  and  frolic,  for  Jack  had  got  a 
holiday,  and  the  season  was  long  remembered  as 
"Bnffiii'sFair." 

The  whale-fishery  has  been  carried  on  from  the 
United  States  with  greater  vigor  and  success  than 


WTu^ 


1 1* 


if  'V' 


1:11:1^*^ 


|l  I 


fr' 

•• 

i       , 
■■'     1 

ill  ^  ■■: 

,1 

ji       4 

I  i 


138 


YANKEE   WHALEMEN. 


from  any  other  country,  and  from  an  early  period. 
In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  business 
was  a  very  lucrative  one ;  and  several  flourishing 
towns  were  built  up  thereby.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Massachusetts  alone  had 
nearly  two  hundred  vessels  engaged  in  the  northern 
seas,  besides  many  in  the  southern.  The  great  Eng- 
lish Statesman,  Burke,  in  1774  paid  the  following 
tribute  to  Yankee  enterprise : — 

"  Look  at  the  manner  in  which  the  New  England 
people  carry  on  the  whale-fishery.  While  we  follow 
them  among  the  tumbling  mountains  of  ice  and 
behold  them  penetrating  into  the  deepest  frozen 
recesses  of  Hudson's  Bay  and  Davis  Strait ;  while  we 
are  looking  for  them  beneath  the  Arctic  circle,  we 
hear  that  they  have  pierced  into  the  opposite  region 
of  polar  cold  ;  that  they  are  r.t  the  antipodes,  and 
engaged  under  the  frozen  serpent  of  the  Soutli.  Falk- 
land Island,  which  seemed  too  remote  and  t(w  i-oman- 
tic  an  object  for  the  gra«D  of  national  ambition,  is 
but  a  stage  and  resting-place  for  tlieir  \ictorious 
industry.  Nor  is  the  equinoctial  heat  more  discour- 
aejina:  to  them  than  the  accumulated  winter  of  both 
the  Poles.  We  learn  that  while  some  of  them  draw 
the  line  or  strike  the  harpoon  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
others  run  the  longitude  and  pursue  their  gigantic 
game  along  the  coast  of  Brazil." 

The  war  put  a  temporary  stop  to  the  whaling  bus- 
iness of  the  United  States,  but  it  was  renewed  with 
energy  as  soon  as  peace  was  declared,  and  again 
broken  up  by  the  war  of  1812.  Its  recovery  was, 
however,  rapid.  In  1844,  the  American  whaling 
fleet  comprised  six  hundred  and  fifty  vessels,  manned 
by  over  seventeen  thousand  men,  while  the  English 


THE    DUNDEE    WHALING    STEAMERS. 


139 


fleet  at  the  same  date  numbered  only  eighty-five  ves- 
sels. In  1849,  the  American  whaling  fleet  was  nearly 
as  large  as  in  1844.  The  Northern  Pacific,  extend- 
ino-  from  the  coast  of  America  to  Kamchatka,  was  at 
tliat  time  the  great  harvest  field  of  American  whalers, 
iind  Bering  Strait,  and  the  Ai'ctic  Ocean  to  whicli  it 
leads  have  since  been  visited  by  intrepid  American 
whalemen. 

Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  whales,  the  use  of  gas, 
and  the  discovery  of  petroleum,  the  whaling  business 
of  the  United  kStates  has  dwindled  down  to  very 
small  proi)()rtions  compared  with  what  it  once  was. 
Dangers  (bsasters,  and  suff'erings  are,  however,  still 
inciden  fo  Jie  profession.  In  1871,  the  North-west 
whaling  fleet  was  shut  in  by  the  ice,  and  many  of 
the  ships  had  to  bo  abandoned.  Quite  recently  three 
New  Bedford  whalers  have  been  lost  in  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  another  which  has  just  returned  was  impris- 
oned for  three  months  amid  the  desolations  of  Repulse 
I>,ay.  ^     . 

Although  never  wholly  abandoned,  the  whaling 
trade  of  Great  Biltain  fluctuated  for  many  years ; 
until  it  was  found  that  an  Indian  fibre,  when  manip- 
ulated with  whale  oil,  could  be  manufactured  into  a 
great  variety  of  useful  falu'ics.  The  extension  of  the 
manufacture  of  jute  in  Dundee,  Scotland,  caused  the 
revival  of  the  whale-fisheiy  in  Baflfin's  Bay.  A  mil- 
lion bales  of  jute  are  now  annually  imported  into 
Dundee,  e(|ual  to  one  hundred  and  forty-three  thou- 
sand tons ;  and  the  bulk  of  the  whale  oil  is  required 
by  the  jute  manufacturers  of  Dundee  and  the  neigh- 
borhood. Thus  the  port  of  Dundee  has  now  become 
the  centre  of  the  English  whale-fishing  trade  ;  and  car- 
goes of  oil  from  the  Arctic  regions  may  be  seen  dis- 


'IH 


■    iTn 


140 


RI'=;CUE   OF   THE   POLARIS    CREW. 


,!  ■  '> 


r  !■ 


n 


l|f>:i 


1 .  '^f  '1 


t  i 


II   { I  l;| 


i  I'V'j 


i.i  lis 


.«i! 


I." 


charging  alongside  of  cargoes  of  jute  from  Calcutta, 
both  being  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  port.  Of 
late  years  steam  has  made  a  great  change  in  naviga- 
tion, and  the  steam  whalers  are  not  ex])osed  to  the 
same  risks  and  detentions  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  sailing 
ships.  The  first  steam  whaler  sailed  from  Dundee  in 
1858,  and  now  a  whaling  fleet  of  ten  steamt  s  leaves 
every  spring  for  Baffin's  Bay  and  returns  in  the  fall. 
Each  carries  eight  whale  boats,  manned  by  nearly 
the  Avhole  crew  of  sixty  men ;  for  few  remain  on  the 
ship  when  the  cry  of  "  There  she  spouts ! "  is  heard. 
It  was  a  steamer  of  this  line,  the  Ilavenscraig, 
which  rescued  the  crew  of  the  wrecked  Polaris,  and 
the  party  were  carried  to  Dundee  in  two  others,  tht 
Intrepid  and  the  Arctic.  The  latter  steamer  had,  dur- 
ing her   trip,  penetrated  into  the  Gulf  of  Boothia. 


^i.-^^ 


4 


CHAPTER    X. 

CRUISE    OF    THE    ISABELLA    AND    ALEX- 

ANDER. 

(JOIIN    KOSS — PARRY.) 

The  Northern  seas,  .as  a  theatre  of  adventure,  had 
been  unoccupied  for  lialf  a  century,  and  the  grand 
question  in  whicli  Engkind  had  taken  so  deep  an  in- 
terest was  still  open.  For  several  years  preceding 
1818,  vast  masses  of  ice  had  floated  down  from  the 
I'egions  of  Baffin's  Bay,  and  an  unusual  opportunity 
of  discovering  a  North-west  passage  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  seemed  to  present  itself. 

In  that  year  the  English  government  fitted  out  two 
expeditions;  one  to  search  foi'the  North-west  passage, 
the  other  to  attempt  a  voyage  across  the  Pole.  The 
first  consisted  of  th.e  Isabella  of  885  tons,  commanded 
l\y  Captain  John  Ross,  an  officer  of  reputation  and 
experience,  who  had  twice  wintered  in  the  Baltic,  had 
T)een  employed  in  surveying  the  White  Sea,  and  been 
as  far  north  as  Bear  Island;  and  the  Alexander  of 
252  tons,  conmianded  by  Lieutenant  Wm.  E.  Parry, 
afterwards  famous  as  an  Arctic  exjilorer. 

On  the  18th  of  April  the  vessels  left  the  Thames, 
and  on  the  27tli  of  May  came  in  view  of  Cape  Fare- 
well, round    which  as  visual   Avere  floa ling  numerous 

and  h)fty  icebercrs  of  the  most  varied  forms  and  tints. 

141 


.•;*•■■ 


'fWfW^ 

:'^ll 

,.,,; 

illi 

1  ;Ir] 

11  ■ 

n 

!  II 


r  ! 


|s| 


!■  Ji 


r 

1 

t 

!i 

If"'-' 

; 

1            < 

1 

i  ."•  ''  5  . 

il       ■ 

[)      i  ('' 

i 

'i' 

1, 


?    i 


^ 


142 


A    DANISH    I5J:A(TY. 


On  the  14tli  of  June  they  readied  the  Whale  Islands, 
wliere  they  were  informetl  by  the  governor  of  the 
Danish  settlement,  that  the  i)ast  winter  had  been  iin- 
coninionly  severe — the  neighboring  bays  and  straits 
having  been  all  frozen  two  months  earlier  than  usual — 
and  that  some  of  the  channels  ncn-thAvard  of  his  station 
were  still  l)ound  in  with  ice. 

On  the  I7th  of  June,  an  impenetrable  barrier  of  ice 
stopping  their  c(mrse,  they  fastened  to  an  iceberg  hav- 
ing forty-five  M'hale-ships  in  com])any.  At  length  the 
ice  attached  to  the  eastern  shore  broke  up,  though 
still  forming  a  continuous  rampart  at  some  distance 
to  the  ^vestward,  but  in  the  intermediate  space  they 
wei-e  enabled  to  move  forward  slowly  along  the  coast, 
laboring  through  narrow  and  intricate  channels  amid 
mountains  and  loose  fragments  of  ice  near  the  Danish 
settlement.  Their  detention  had  not  lacked  amuse- 
ment ;  the  half-caste  sons  and  dau<diters  of  Danes  and 
Esquimaux  <lanced  Scotch  reels  with  the  sailors  on 
the  deck  of  the  Isabella ;  Jack  Saccheous,  a  native  of 
Greenland,  who  accompanied  tlie  expedition  as  inter- 
preter, was  ni.-ister  of  ceiemonies. 

A  daughter  of  the  Danish  resident,  about  eis^hteen 
years  of  age,  a"'d  by  far  the  best  looking  of  the 
group,  was  the  o],ject  of  Jack's  particular  attentions; 
which  being  ol)served  by  one  of  the  officers,  he  gave 
him  a  lady's  shawl,  ornamented  with  spangles,  as 
an  offei'ing  for  her  acceptance.  lie  presented  it  to 
the  damsel,  who  l)aslifully  took  a  pewter  ring  from 
lier    finger    and    presented    it  to  him  in  return. 

Proceedini;  alonij:  a  hisrli  mountainous  coast,  the 
expedition  came  to  a  tribe  of  Es(piiraaux  who  seem- 
ed to  exist  in  a  state  of  the  deepest  seclusion.  They 
had  never  before  seen  men  belonging  to  the  civilized 


WII.M.KIIS    MdlTKI)    MY    Till':     I'ACK. 


■n  ^  • 


!!)(').'.-■'!■ 


i:J,''«    r.:i. 


1;  liH- 


f'^  f 


mH'4''* 


ki>\ 


v^ip. 


I'l 


■■'■  t 

i 

I 


!lii;t^il,/'' 


I 


IMi 


y:.  \ 


! 


I 


iiiiii 


'■!■  ■  I 


fi:  i; 


I' ilk       I 


A    SECLUDED    RACE. 


145 


The 


worlJ,  or  of  a  race  dift'ereiit  from  tlieir  own. 
first  small  party  whom  the  navigators  approached 
sliowed  every  sign  of  the  dee2:)est  alarm ;  dreading, 
as  was  afterward  understood,  a  fatal  influence  from 
the  mere  touch  of  these  beings  of  an  unknown  spe- 
cies. Yet  they  seem  to  have  felt  a  secret  attraction 
towards  the  strangers,  and  advanced,  holding  fast  the 
long  knives  lodged  in  their  boots,  and  looking  signifi- 
cantly at  each  other. 

Having  come  to  a  chasm  whj/'h  separated  them 
from  the  English,  they  made  e;irriest  signs  that  only 
the  interpreter,  who  bore  a  resemldance  to  themselves, 
should  come  across.  He  went  forward  and  offered 
his  hand.  They  shrunk  back  for  some  time  in  alarm ; 
at  length  the  boldest  touched  it,  and  finding  it  flesh 
and  l)lood  set  up  a  loud  shout,  which  three  others 
Joined.  The  rest  of  the  party  then  came  up,  to  the 
number  of  eight,  with  fifty  dogs  which  helped  their 
masters  in  raising  a  tremendous  clamor. 

Ross  and  Parry  now  thought  it  tim6  to  come  for- 
ward. This  movement  excited  alarm  and  a  tendency 
to  retreat ;  but  Saccheous  having  taught  these  officers 
to  pull  their  noses,  this  sign  of  ami^y  was  graciously 
acceiDted.  A  mirror  was  now  held  up  to  them,  and  on 
seeing  tlieir  faces  in  it  they  showed  the  greatest  aston- 
ishment ;  they  looked  around  on  each  other  a  few 
moments  in  silence,  then  set  up  a  general  shout,  suc- 
ceeded by  a  loud  laugh  of  delight  and  surprise. 

The  ship  was  the  next  object  of  their  speculation. 
They  began  by  endeavoring  to  ascertain  its  nature 
by  interrogating  it,  for  they  conceived  it  to  be  a  huge 
bird,  spreading  its  vast  wings  and  endoAved  with 
reason.  One  of  them,  pulling  his  nose  with  the  ut- 
most solemnity,  began  an  address  : 


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146 


ESQUIMAUX    IDEAS    01-'   A    SHIT. 


"  Who  are  you  ?  Whence  come  you  ?  Is  it  from 
th(^  suu  or  the  moon  ?" 

The  Hhii)  renmining  siU^nt,  tliey  at  lenc^th  applied 
to  SaeeheouH,  wlio  ai-^sured  them  that  it  was  a  frame  of 
timber,  the  work  of  liuman  art.  To  them,  liowever, 
wlio  liad  never  seen  any  wood  hut  slight  twigs  and 
stunted  lieath,  its  immense  planks  and  masts  were  ob- 
jects of  amazement.  Wliat  animal,  they  also  asked, 
could  furnish  those  enormous  akins  A\dueh  Avere  spread 
for  the  sails. 

Their  admiration  was  soon  followed  by  a  desire  to 
possess  some  of  the  objects  which  met  their  eyes,  but 
with  little  discrimination  as  to  the  means  of  effecting 
their  end.  They  attempted  first  a  spare  topmast,  then 
an  anchor;  and  these  proving  too  ponderous,  one  of 
them  tried  the  smith's  anvil;  but  finding  it  fixed,  made 
off  with  the  large  hannner.  Anotlier  wonder  for 
them  was  to  see  the  sailors  mounting  to  the  topmast  • 
nor  was  it  without  much  hesitation  that  they  ventured 
their  own  feet  in  the  shrouds.  A  little  terrier  dog 
appeared  to  them  a  contemptible  object,  wholly  unfit 
for  drawing  burdens  or  being  yoked  in  a  sledge,  while 
the  grunt  of  a  hog  filled  them  with  alarm. 

These  Esquimaux  had  a  king  who  rnled  seemingly 
with  gentle  sway ;  for  they  described  him  as  strongs 
very  good  and  very  much  beloved.  The  discoverers 
did  not  visit  the  court  of  this  Arctic  potentate ;  but  they 
understood  that  he  drew  a  trilmte,  consisting  of  ti'ain- 
oil,  seal-skins,  and  the  bone  of  the  unicoi'u.  Like 
other  Greenlanders,  they  liad  sledc::es  drawn  by  large 
and  powerful  teams  of  dogs.  They  rejected  with  hor- 
ror biscuit,  sweetmeats  and  spii-its ;  train-oil,  as  it 
streamed  from  the  seal  and  the  unicorn,  alone  grati- 
fied their  palate.     Captain  Koss,  swayed  by  national 


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THE  ABCnC  UIOH'  ANDEXtS. 


149 


impressions,  gave  to  this  tribe  the  name  of  Arctic 
Jlighlandera.  In  the  northern  part  of  this  coast  the 
navigators  observed  a  remarkable  phenomenon, — a 
range  of  cliffs,  the  snowy  covering  of  which  had  ex- 
changed its  native  white  for  a  tint  of  dark  crimson. 
The  latest  observations  have  established  its  vegetable 
origin. 

Having  now  passed  Cape  Dudley  Digges,  Captain 
Ross  found  himself  among  those  spacious  sounds 
which  Baffin  had  named  but  so  imperfectly  described. 
He  seems,  however,  to  have  followed  the  same  hasty 
method.  He  sailed  past  AVolstenholme  and  Whale 
Sounds  without  even  approaching  their  entrance, 
concluding  them  to  be  blocked  up  with  ice,  and  to  af- 
ford no  hope  of  a  passage.  Ross  next  came  to  Smith's 
Sound,  which  Baffin  had  described  as  the  most  spar 
cious  and  promising  of  the  whole  circuit  of  these  coasts. 
It  was  viewed  with  greater  attention  ;  but  believed  to 
be  completely  enclosed  by  land.  The  two  capes  at 
its  entrance  were  named  after  the  ships  Isabella  and 
Alexander.  He  then  came  to  a  spacious  bay,  which 
had  hitherto  been  unknown  and  unobserved,  and 
afterward  to  that  which  Baffin  had  called  Jones's 
Sound ;  but  in  respect  to  both  was  led  to  a  prompt 
and  unfavorable  conclusion. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  the  expedition  came  to  a 
most  magnificent  inlet,  bordered  by  lofty  nioiintuiiia 
of  peculiar  grandeur,  while  the  water  being  clear  and 
free  from  ice,  presented  so  tempting  an  appearance 
that  it  was  impossible  to  refrain  from  entering.  This 
channel,  which  soon  proved  to  be  the  Lancaster 
Sound  of  Baffin,  was  ascended  for  thirty  miles ;  during 
which  run,  officers  and  men  crowded  the  topmast 
filled  with  enthusiastic  hope,  and  judging  that  it  af- 


150 


SIGNAL  OF   RETURN. 


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foinled  much  fairer  hopes  of  success  than  any  of  those 
so  hastily  passed.  Captain  Ross  however,  and  those 
whom  he  consulted,  never  showed  any  sanguine  ex- 
pectations. He  soon  thought  that  he  discovered  a 
high  ridge  stretching  directly  across  the  inlet ;  and 
though  a  great  pai-t  of  it  was  deeply  involved  in  mist, 
yet  a  passage  in  this  direction  was  judged  to  be  hope- 
less. The  sea  being  open,  the  ship  proceeded ;  but  an 
officer  came  down  from  the  crow's  nest,  stating  that 
he  liad  seen  the  land  stretching  very  nearly  across  the 
entire  bay.  Hereupon  it  is  said,  all  hopes  were  re- 
nounced even  by  the  most  sanguine,  and  Captain  Ross 
sailed  onward  merely  for  the  i)urpose  of  making  some 
magnetical  observations. 

At  three  o'clock,  the  sky  having  cleared,  the  com- 
mander himself  went  on  deck,  when  he  states  that  he 
distinctly  saw  across  the  bottom  of  the  bay  a  chain  of 
mountains  continuous  and  connected  with  those  which 
foniied  its  opposite  shores.  The  weather  then  becom- 
ing unsettled,  he  made  the  signal  to  steer  the  vessels 
out  of  Lancaster  Sound.  Lieutenant  Parry,  however, 
declares  that  to  him,  in  the  Isabella,  this  signal  ap- 
peared altogether  mysterious,  being  himself  full  of  the 
most  sanguine  expectations,  and  seeing  no  ground 
for  this  abiiipt  retreat ;  but  his  duty  obliged  him  to 
follow. 

On  regaining  the  entrance  of  this  great  channel, 
Captain  Ross  continued  to  steer  southward  along  the 
western  shore  of  Baffin's  Bay  and  Davis's  Strait,  with- 
out seeing  any  entrance  which  afforded  equal  promise, 
and  returned  home  early  in  October. 

Ross  arrived  in  England  under  decided  conviction 
that  Baffin's  observations  had  been  perfectly  correct, 
and  that  Lancaster  Sound  was  a  bay. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
CRUISE  OF  THE  HECLA  AND  GRIPER. 

(PAKRY    AND   LIDDON.) 

It  being  detemiined  that  a  new  exjiedition  should 
he  fitted  out  and  intrusted  to  Lieutenant  Parry,  that 
lie  might  fulfill,  if  possible,  his  own  sanguine  hopes 
and  those  of  his  employers,  he  was  furnished  Avitli 
the  Ilecla  of  375  tons,  and  a  crew  of  fifty-eight  men  ; 
and  with  the  Griper  gun-brig  of  180  tons  and  thirty- 
six  men,  eonnnanded  by  Lieutenant  Liddon.  Thesu 
ships  were  made  as  strong  and  as  well-fitted  as  possi- 
ble for  the  navijxation  of  the  Arctic  seas ;  and  were 
stored  with  ample  provisions  for  two  years,  a  copious 
supply  of  antiscorbutics,  and  eveiy  thing  which  could 
enable  the  crews  to  endure  the  extreme  rigoi-s  of  a 
Polar  winter. 

Lieutenant  Parry,  destined  to  outstrip  all  his  prede- 
cessors in  the  career  of  Arctic  discover}',  left  the  Xore 
on  the  nth  of  May,  1819,  and  on  the  loth  of  June 
came  in  view  of  the  lofty  cliifs  of  Cape  Farewell.  On 
the  18tli  the  ships  first  fell  in  with  icebergs,  and  made 
an  effort  to  j)ush  through  the  icy  masses  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Lancaster  Sound  ;  but  these  suddenly  closed 
upon  him,  and  on  the  25th  the  two  ships  were  immove- 
ably  beset ;  but  on  the  second  day  the  ice  was  loosened 
and  driven  against  them  with  much  violence. 

151 


152 


ENTERING   LANCASTER  SOUND. 


I  VI  I 


..I 


Resigning  the  idea  of  reaching  Lancaster  Sound  by 
the  most  direct  route,  the  explores  coasted  northward 
along  the  border  of  this  great  icy  field  in  search  of 
open  water,  and  proceeded,  till  they  reached  lati- 
tude 75''.  As  every  step  was  now  likely  to  carry 
them  farther  from  their  destination,  Parry  determined 
upon  a  desperate  push  to  the  westward ;  and  by 
sjiwing  and  Avaqiing,  finally  penetrated  the  icy  barrier 
and  saw  the  western  shore  clear  of  ice  extending  be- 
fore them. 

Tlie  navigators  now  bore  directly  do\\'Ti  upon  Lan- 
caster Soiuid,  and  on  the  iJOth  of  July  found  them- 
selves at  its  entrance.  They  felt  an  extraordinary 
emotion  as  they  recognized  this  magnificent  channel, 
with  the  lofty  cliffs  by  which  it  was  guarded,  aware 
that  a  very  short  time  would  decide  the  fate  of  their 
grand  undertaking.  They  Avere  tantalized,  however, 
by  a  fresh  breeze  coming  directly  down  the  sound, 
which  suffered  them  to  make  only  very  slow  progress. 
There  was  no  appearance,  of  any  obstructions  either 
from  ice  or  land,  and  even  the  heavy  swell  Avhieh 
came  down  the  inlet,  driving  the  water  repeatedly  in 
at  the  stern-win«lows,  was  hailed  as  an  indication  of 
open  sea  to  the  westwanl. 

On  the  3d  of  August  an  easterly  breeze  sprung  up, 
cariying  both  vessels  rapidly  forward.  A  crowd  of 
sail  was  set,  and  they  pushed  triumphantly  to  the 
■westward.  Their  minds  were  filled  with  anxious  hope 
and  suspense.  The  mast-heads  were  crowded  with 
officers  and  men,  and  the  successive  reports  l)rought 
doAvn  from  the  topmast  pinnacle  were  eagerly  listened 
to.  They  passed  various  headlands  with  several  wide 
openings  towards  the  north  and  south,  but  these  it 
was  not  their  present  object  to  explore.     The  wind, 


HOPES  AND  DISAPPOINTMENTS. 


158 


freshening  more  and  more  carried  tliem  liappily  for- 
ward, till  at  midnight  they  found  themselves  a  liun- 
dred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  grand  in- 
let, which  still  retained  a  breadth  of  lift}'  miles.  The 
success  of  the  expedition  they  hoj^Mjd  was  now  to  a 
great  extent  decided. 

The  ships  proceeded  on  and  found  two  other  inlets, 
then  a  bold  cape  named  Fellfoot,  forming  apparently 
the  tennination  of  this  long  line  of  coast.  The  length- 
ened swell  which  still  rolled  in  from  the  north  and 
west,  with  the  oceanic  color  of  the  -vvaters,  inspired 
the  hope  that  they  had  already  i)assed  the  region  of 
ritraits  and  inlets,  and  were  now  Avufted  along  the 
Avide  expanse  of  the  Polar  basin.  Nothing,  it  was 
supposed,  would  now  obstruct  their  progress  to 
Icy  Cape,  the  western  boundary  of  America.  An 
alarm  t)f  land  was  given,  but  it  proved  to  be  t)nly 
from  an  island  of  no  great  extent ;  more  land  was 
soon  discovered  beyond  Cai>e  Feilfoot,  which  was 
ascertained  to  be  the  headland  to  a  noble  bay  extend- 
ing on  their  right,  which  they  named  Maxwell  Bay. 

An  nninternipted  range  of  sea  still  stretched  out 
before  them,  though  they  saw  on  the  south  a  line  of 
continuous  ice.  Some  distance  ouAVurd  they  discover- 
ed, with  deep  dismay,  that  this  ice  Avas  joined  to  inq^ene- 
trable  floes,  which  completely  crossed  the  channel 
and  joined  the  western  j)oint  of  MaxAvell  Bay.  A  vio- 
lent surf  was  beating  along  the  edges,  and  they  drew 
back  to  avoid  entanglement  in  the  ice 

The  officers  began  to  amuse  themselves  with  fruit- 
less attempts  to  catch  Avhite  Avhales,  Avhen  the  Aveather 
cleared,  and  they  saAV  to  the  south  an  open  sea  Avith  a 
dark  Avater-sk}-.  Parr}',  hoping  that  it  might  lead 
to  a  free  passage  in  a  loAver  latitude,  steered  toward 


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154 


DBEART  SHORES. 


it,  and  found  himself  at  the  mouth  of  a  great 
inlet,  ten  leagues  broad,  with  no  visible  teiinination ; 
to  the  two  eajws  at  its  entran(!e  he  gave  the  names 
of  Clarence  and  Seppings. 

Finding  the  western  shore  of  this  inlet  deeply  en- 
cumbered with  ice,  they  moved  across  to  the  easteni 
where  was  a  broad  and  open  channel.  The  coast 
was  the  most  dreary  and  desolate  they  had  ever  be- 
held even  in  the  Arctic  world,  presenting  scarcely  a 
semblance  either  of  animal  or  vegetable  life.  Navi- 
gation  Avas  rendered  more  arduous  from  the  irregular- 
it^''  of  the  compass. 

After  sailing  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles  up  this 
inlet,  the  increasing  width  of  which  inspired  them 
with  cori'esponding  hoj^es,  with  extreme  consternation 
they  suddenly  perceived  the  ice  to  diverge  from  its 
parallel  coui-se,  close  in  and  nin  to  a  point  of  land  which 
appeared  to  fonn  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
eastern  shore.  The  western  horizoji  also  appeared 
covered  with  heavy  and  extensive  floes,  a  bright  and 
dazzling  ice-blink  extending  from  shore  to  shore. 
Parry  now  determined  to  return  to  the  old  station, 
and  watch  the  opportunity  when  the  relenting  ice 
would  allow  the  ships  to  proceed  westward. 

On  the  1 8th,  after  getting  once  more  close  to  the 
noi-thern  shore  the  navigators  began  to  make  a  little 
progress,  when  some  showers  of  ruin,  accompanied  Avith 
heavy  wind,  produced  such  an  effect  that  on  the  21st 
the  Avhole  ice  had  disappeared ;  they  could  scarcely 
believe  it  to  be  the  same  sea  Avliich  had  just  before 
been  covered  with  floes  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

Pariy  now  croAvded  all  sail  to  the  Avestward  and 
passed  Beechy  Island ;  after  which  he  reached  a  fine 
and  broad  inlet  leading  to  the  north,  which  he  named 


TIIK   lUiWAKl>   EAUNED. 


155 


Wellington.  The  sea  up  this  inlet  being  perfectly 
open  lie  would  have  ascended  it,  had  there  not  been 
before  him  an  open  channel  leading  due  west. 

A  favorable  breeze  now  spning  up,  and  the  adven- 
turere  passed  gayly  and  triumphantly  along  the  shores 
of  Cornwallis  Island  and  two  smaller  ones.  The  nav- 
igation then  became  extremely  difficult  in  consequence 
of  thick  fogs,  which  not  only  froze  on  the  shrouds 
but,  as  the  compass  was  useless,  took  awa)'  all  means 
of  knowing  the  direction  in  ■which  they  sailed.  They 
were  obliged  to  trust  to  the  land  and  ice  preserving 
the  same  line,  and  sometimes  employed  the  most  odd 
expedients  for  ascertaining  the  precise  point. 

Pushing  westward  through  many  obstacles  they  at 
length  reached  the  coast  of  an  island  larger  than  any 
hefoi-e  discovered,  to  -svliich  they  gave  the  name  of 
Melville.  The  Avind  noAV  failed,  and  they  slowly 
moved  forward  by  towing  and  Avarping,  till,  on  the 
4th  of  September,  Pui'ry  announced  to  his  joyful  crew, 
that,  having  reached  the  longitude  of  llC  AV.,  they 
liad  become  entitled  to  the  reward  of  £5000  prom- 
ised by  Parliament  to  the  first  crew  Avho  should  attain 
that  meridian. 

The  mariners  pushed  forward  Avith  redoubled  ardor, 
but  soon  found  their  course  arrested  by  an  impene- 
trable icy  l>aiTier.  They  Avaited  nearly  a  fortniglit  in 
hopes  of  OA'^ercoming  it,  Avhen  the  }'oung  ice  began 
rapidly  to  form  on  the  surface  of  the  Avaters,  and 
Parry  Avas  convinced  that  in  the  cA'ent  of  a  single 
hour's  calm  he  Avould  be  frozen  up  in  the  midst  of 
the  sea.  No  option  was  therefore  left  l)ut  to  return 
to  a  harbor  Avhich  had  been  passed  on  Melville  Island. 
It  Avas  reached  on  the  24th,  but  they  Avere  obliged  to 
cut  tAvo  miles  through  a  large  floe  Avith  Avliich  it  Avas 


15C 


THE    NORTH    OEOTIOIAN   THEATRE. 


i!i  I 


.f  .. 


I  >l 


filled.  On  the  20cli,  the  Hhips  were  unchored  at  about 
a  culjle's  length  from  the  l>eaeli,  and  hooii  Uo/.vu  in. 

The  commander,  finding  himself  and  his  ships  shut 
in  for  a  long  and  dreary  av  inter,  <levoted  his  attention, 
with  judieions  activity  and  a  mixtun^  of  firmness  and 
kindness, to  mitigate  those  evils  which  even  in  lower 
latitudes  had  often  rendered  an  Arctic  wintering  so 
fatal.  It  was  necessary  to  l>e  very  economical  of  fuel, 
the  small  (piantity  of  moss  and  turf  which  could  be 
collecte<l  being  too  wet  to  be  of  an}'  use. 

Parry's  1  dans  for  kei^jting  tlu^  men's  minds  in  a  live- 
ly  and  ch(;erful  state  were  original,  and  proved  elTect- 
ive.  Arrang(!ments  wc^re  made;  for  the.  occasional  per- 
formance of  a  l»l!iy,  in  a  region  wry  remote  certainly 
from  any  to  Avliich  the  drama  a[>peared  congenial. 
BeeehyMas  nominated  stage-manager,  and  the  ofHceis 
came  forward  as  amatcMir  performers.  The  very  ex- 
pectation thus  raised  among  the  seamen,  and  the  bus- 
tle of  pi'cparing  a  room  for  the  pui'[K»se,  Avere  extreme- 
ly salutary  ;  and  A\hen  the  Xortli  (Jcorgian  theatre 
opene<l  Avith  "  Miss  in  her  Teens,"  the  hardy  tars  Avere 
conxulsed  Avith  laughter. 

The  oHicers  had  another  source  of  amusement  in 
tlu!  North  (leorgia  (razette,  of  Avhich  Captain  Sabine 
became  editor,  and  all  were  invited  to  contribute  to 
this  chronicle  of  the  frozen  regions.  Even  those  Avlio 
hesitated  to  appear  as  Avriters,  enlivened  the  circle  1)}" 
SeA'ere  but  good-humored  criticisms. 

"  Tlius  passcil  tlio  time 
Till,  tliroiigh  lliu  Itu-iJ  chainbcrs  of  the  South, 
Looked  out  the  joyous  Sun." 

It  was  on  the  4th  of  November  that  this  great  orl» 
ought  to  have  taken  his  leave ;  but  a  deep  haze  pre- 


w 


TRACK      V   TIIK    IIKCLA    AMI   (illll'KR. 


(''' 


PARBV'a   8HIFS   IN   WINTEU   glARTERS, 


AVINTKII   AMUSEJIENT8. 


150 


vcntod  them  from  bidding  a  formal  farewell.  Aini<l 
viiriouM  occiuputioiiH  and  aniiiHementH  the  shortest  day 
came  on  almost  unexpected,  and  the  seamen  then 
Avatched  with  pleasure  the  mi<lday  twilight  gradually 
strengthening.  On  the  Hd  of  February  the  sun  was 
atrain  seen  from  the  nuiintoi)  of  the  llecla.  Throu*;h 
the  greatest  dejjth  of  the  Polar  night,  the  <>ffieei*s,  dur- 
ing the  brief  twilight,  had  taken  a  regidar  walic  of 
two  or  three  hotu's,  although  never  longer  than 
a  mile  lest  they  should  l)e  overtaken  by  snow-drift. 
There  wjis  a  want  of  objects  to  divei^sify  this  walk. 
A  dreary  monotonous  surtatie  <)f  dazzling  white  cover- 
(m1  land  and  sea:  the  view  of  the  shij)s,  th<^  smoke  a?-^- 
ceiidliig  from  thenj,  and  the  somul  of  human  voices, 
>vliich  through  the  calm  and  cold  air  was  carried  to 
nu  extraordinary  distance,  alone  gave  any  animati(m  to 
this  wintry  scene. 

The  officers,  however,  persevered  in  their  daily 
walk,  and  exercise  was  also  enforced  upon  the  men, 
who,  even  Avhen  prevented  by  tlu!  weather  from  leav- 
ing the  vessel,  were  made  to  I'un  r()und  the  deck, 
keeping  time  to  the  tune  of  an  organ.  This  move- 
ment they  did  not  at  first  entirely  relish ;  but  no  jdea 
ayainst  it  beinjj  admitted,  they  converted  it  at  last 
into  matter  of  frolic.  By  these  means  health  Avas 
maintained  on  board  the  ships  to  a  surj>rising  degree, 
altljongh  several  of  the  crew  had  symptoms  of 
scurvy  as  early  as  January. 

Further  on  in  the  season  oilier  cases  of  scurvy  oc- 
curred, which  were  aggravated  by  an  accident.  As 
the  men  were  taking  their  musical  perambulation 
round  the  deck,  a  house  erected  on  shore  and  contain- 
ing a  number  of  the  most  valuable  instruments  was 
seen  to  be  on  fire.     The  crew  instantly  ran,  pulled  off 


160 


fibe!  fibe! 


I,.'  '*i!!'"i 


I'd 


the  roof  with  ropes,  knocked  down  a  part  of  the  sides, 
and  being  thus  enabled  to  throw  in  large  quantities 
of  snow  succeeded  in  subduing  the  flames.  But  their 
faces  now  presented  a  curious  spectacle  ;  every  nose 
and  cheek  was  white  with  frost-bites,  and  had  to  be 
rubbed  with  snow  to  restore  circulation.  No  less 
than  sixteen  were  added  to  the  sick-list  in  conse- 
quence of  this  fire. 

The  animal  tribes  disappeared  early  in  the  winter 
from  this  frozen  region,  and  there  remained  only  a 
pack  of  wolves,  which  serenaded  the  ship  nightly,  not 
venturing  to  attack,  but  contriving  to  avoid  being 
captured.  A  beautiful  white  fox  was  caught  and 
made  a  pet  of. 

On  the  16th  of  March  the  North  Georgian  theatre 
was  closed  with  an  appropriate  address,  and  the  gene- 
ral attention  was  now  turned  to  the  means  of  extrica- 
tion from  the  ice.  By  the  iTth  of  May  the  seamen 
had  so  far  cut  the  ice  from  around  the  ships  as  to 
allow  them  to  float ;  but  in  the  sea  it  was  still  immova- 
ble. This  interval  of  inaction  was  employed  by  Cap- 
tain Parry  in  an  excursion  across  Melville  Island.  The 
ground  was  still  mostly  covered  with  softened  snow, 
and  even  the  cleared  tracts  were  extremely  desolate, 
though  checkered  by  intervals  of  fine  verdure.  Deer 
were  seen  traversing  the  p^ains  in  considerable  num- 
bers. To  the  north  appeared  another  island  to  which 
was  given  the  name  of  Sabine. 

By  the  middle  of  June  pools  were  every  where 
formed ;  the  dissolved  water  flowed  in  streams  and 
even  in  torrents,  which  rendered  hunting  and  travel- 
ing unsafe.  There  were  also  channels  of  water  in 
which  boats  could  pass ;  yet  throughout  June  and 
July  the  great  covering  of  ice  in  the  surrounding  sea 


A   BREAK-UP. 


161 


remained  entire,  and  kept  the  ships  in  harbor.  On 
the  2d  of  August,  however,  the  whole  mass  broke  up 
and  floated  out ;  and  the  explorers  had  now  open 
water  in  which  to  prosecute  their  discovery. 

On  the  4th  of  August  they  reached  the  same  spot 
where  their  progress  had  been  formerly  ari'ested.  On 
the  loth  they  were  enabled  to  make  a  certain  pro- 
gress ;  after  wliicli  the  frozen  surface  of  the  ocean 
assumed  a  more  compact  and  impenetrable  aspect 
than  had  ever  before  been  witnessed.  The  officers 
ascended  some  of  the  lofty  heights  which  bordered 
the  coast ;  but  in  a  long  reach  of  sea  to  the  westward 
no  boundary  was  seen  to  these  icy  barriers.  There 
appeared  only  the  western  extremity  of  Melville 
Island,  named  Cape  Dundas ;  and  in  the  distance  a 
bold  high  coast,  which  they  named  Banks  Land. 

As  even  a  brisk  easterly  gale  did  not  produce  the 
slightest  movement  in  this  frozen  surface,  they  were 
led  to  believe  that  on  the  other  side  there  must  be  a 
large  barrier  of  land,  by  which  it  was  held  in  a  fixed 
state.  On  considering  all  circumstances,  there  ap- 
peared no  alternative  but  to  make  their  way  home- 
ward while  yet  the  season  permitted. 

Lancaster  Sound  was  left  behind  on  the  1st  of 
September.  Passing  do\\Ti  the  west  shore  of  Baffin's 
Bay,  they  stopped  at  Clyde's  River,  where  they  re- 
ceived viiiits  from  a  tribe  of  Esquimaux,  whose  appear- 
ance and  conduct  j)leased  them  all  very  much — lively, 
goo<l-natured,  and  cheerful,  with  a  great  inclination 
to  jump  about  when  much  pleased,  "rendering  it," 
says  Parry,  "  a  penalty  of  no  trifling  nature  for  them 
to  sit  still  for  half  an  hour  together."  They  were 
decently  clothed,  male  and  female,  and  their  children 
equally  so,  in  well  dressed  and  neatly-sewn  seal  skins. 


162 


A   SUCCESSFUL   EXPEDITION. 


Parry's  arrival  in  Britian  was  hailed  with  the  high- 
est exultation.  To  have  sailed  upwards  of  thii-ty 
degrees  of  longitude  beyond  the  point  reached  by  any 
former  navigator, — to  have  discovered  so  many  new 
lands,  islands,  and  bays, — to  have  established  the 
much-contested  existence  of  a  Polar  sea  north  of 
America, — ^finally,  after  a  wintering  of  eleven  months, 
to  have  brought  back  all  his  crew  except  one  man  in 
a  sound  condition, — were  enough  to  raise  his  name 
above  that  of  any  former  Arctic  voyager. 


,..:i 


I 


r* 


CHAPTER  XII. 
CRUISE  OF  THE  FURY  AND  HECLA. 

(parky LYON.) 

No  hesitation  was  felt  in  Enjjland  as  to  sendinjj 
out  another  expedition  nnder  Parry ;  and  tlie  two 
ships  Fury  and  Ilecla,  of  nearly  the  same  size,  sailed 
on  the  8th  of  May,  1821.  Captain  George  F.  Lyon, 
already  distinguished  for  his  services  in  Africa,  com- 
manded the  Hecla. 

The  ships  arrived  at  the  month  of  Hudson's  Straits 
on  the  2d  of  July,  where  the  mariners  were  struck 
with  the  dreary  and  gloomy  aspect  of  the  shores. 
They  were  soon  surrounded  with  bergs  and  floes,  and. 
had  nmch  trouble  in  reaching  Hudson's  Bay.  Amid 
these  delays  the  sailors  were  amused  by  the  sight  of 
thiee  conijianion  ships — two  belonging  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  one  bringing  out  settlers  for  Lord 
Selkirk's  colony.  These  last,  who  were  chiefly  Dutch 
and  Germans,  were  seen  waltzing  on  deck  often  for 
Lours  together  and  ^vere  only  driven  in  by  a  severe 
fall  of  snow.  Although  almost  in  despair,  they  recre- 
ated themselves  from  time  to  time  by  matrimonial 
arrangements,  in  which  they  were  so  diligent,  that  it 
is  said  there  was  scarcely  a  ball  which  did  not  end  in 

a  marriage.  ' 

163 


I 


.  if  i  I ;.!!' 


,r: 


164 


THE    SAVAGE-ISLANDERS. 


saw,  or  a  razor. 

character   seemed  fierce   and   savage 


One  day,  when  near  the  Savage  Islands  a  loud 
shouting  was  heard,  and  soon  after  a  number  of  natives 
were  seen  paddling  tlieir  canoes  through  the  lanes  of 
open  water,  or  drawing  them  over  the  pieces  of  ice. 
Among  a  great  number  of  kayaks  were  five  oomiaks, 
or  women's  boats.  Presently  a  wild  and  noisy  scene 
of  frolic  and  traffic  beiiran.  The  natives  traded  with 
eagerness,  even  stripping  themselves  of  the  furs  which 
formed  their  clothing,  and  raised  shouts  of  triumph 
when  they  obtained  in  exchange  for  them  a  nail,  a 

Their  aspect  was  wild  and  their 

Some  of  the 

ancient  dames  were  pronounced  to  be  most  hideous 
objects.  The  children  were  rather  pretty;  though, 
from  being  thrown  carelessly  into  the  bottom  of  the 
boats,  they  had  much  the  ajipearance  of  young  wild 
animals.  Besides  traffic,  the  natives  indulged  in  a 
great  deal  of  nide  frolic ;  one  of  them  got  behind  a 
sailor,  shouted  loudly  in  one  ear  and  gave  him  a 
hearty  box  on  the  other,  which  was  hailed  with  a 
general  laugh.  They  also  carried  on  a  dance,  consist- 
ing chiefly  of  violent  leaping  and  stamping,  though 
in  tolerable  time. 

After  reaching  Southampton  Island,  Parry  sailed 
up  Fox's  Channel  and  passing  around  the  north  of 
the  island  came  to  Repulse  Bay,  where  he  ascertained 
that  it  was  as  Middleton  had  described  it,  without  a 
western  outlet.  Its  shores  were  far  from  uninvitincj: 
the  surrounding  land  arose  a  thousand  feet,  and  veg- 
etation was  very  luxuriant.  The  remains  of  sixty 
Esquimaux  habitations  were  found,  consisting  of  stones 
laid  one  over  the  other,  in  circles,  eight  or  nine  feet 
in  diameter ;  besides  about  a  hundred  artificial  struct- 
ures, fire-places,  store-houses,  and  other  walled  endos- 


TITIEV1N(^    NATlVi;;. 


105 


urea  four  or  five  feet  higli,  used  for  keeping  their 
skill  canoes  from  being  gnawed  l)y  tiie  dogs. 

LeaA'ing  Repulse  Bay  and  siiliiig  eastward,  the 
explorers  soon  found  themselves  among  numei'ous 
islands  which  formed  a  complete  labyrinth  of  various 
sliaj)es  and  sizes,  while  strong  currents  setting  bet\v('('ii 
them  in  various  directions,  amid  fogs  and  drifting  ice, 
rendered  the  navigation  truly  perilous.  The  L^iiy 
was  assailed  by  successive  masses  rushing  out  from 
an  inlet ;  her  anchor  was  dragged  along  the  rocks  Avith 
a  grinding  noise,  and  on  being  drawn  up,  the  two 
flukes  were  found  to  be  broken  off.  A  channel  Avas 
at  last  found,  by  which  the  mariners  made  their  way 
through  this  perilous  maze,  and  found  themselves  in 
Fox's  Channel,  which  they  had  left  a  month  before. 

Starting  northward  again  they  discovered  several 
inlets,  one  of  which  they  named  after  Captain  Lyon. 
A  party  of  Esquimaux  were  encountered,  whose  timid- 
ity was  overcome  by  the  hope  of  obtaining  some  iron 
tools.  In  the  course  of  this  transaction,  the  curiosity 
of  the  crew  was  roused  by  the  conduct  of  a  woman, 
who  had  sold  one  boot,  but  obstinately  retained  the 
other  in  disregard  of  the  strongest  remonstrances  as 
to  tlie  ridiculous  figure  she  made.  At  length  suspi- 
cion rose  to  such  a  pitch,  that,  setting  aside  all  court- 
esy, they  seized  her  and  pulled  off  the  boot,  in  which 
was  found  two  spoons  and  a  pewter  plate  which  she 
had  stolen. 

The  end  of  September  now  approached,  and  Parry 
found  himself  suddenly  in  the  depth  of  winter;  soft 
or  pancake  ice  began  to  form  and  rapidly  increased 
till  the  vessel  became,  like  Gulliver  bound  by  the 
feeble  hands  of  Lilliputians.  At  the  same  time  the 
drift-ice  became  cemented  into  one  crreat  and  threat- 

10  ^ 


II  'I 


y^  e 


it' 


ih  I!  i  ( 


!  1 4  J !' 


.us  ■'■ 


I  i 


I  I 


,l,    .li 


16G 


'•THE    IJIVALS." 


ening  field.  The  navigators  could  no  longer  even  at- 
tempt to  reach  the  land,  but  determined  to  saw  into 
an  adjoining  iloe,  and  there  take  up  their  winter  <piar- 
ters.  This  work  was  not  laborious,  but  far  from 
pleasant,  as  the  ice  bent  like  leather  beneath  tliem. 

The  ships  were  now  fi'ozen  in,  and  measures  were 
taken  to  preserve  health  and  comfci*t  during  the 
(h'eaiy  Avinter  before  them.  The  Polar  Theatre  was 
o])ened  in  November  witli  "  Tlie  Rivals."  Parry  and 
Lyon  volunteered  to  appear  as  Sir  Anthony  and  Cap- 
tain Absolute;  while  the  ladies  generously  removed 
an  ample  growth  of  beard,  disregarding  the  comforta- 
ble warmth  which  it  afforded  in  an  Arctic  climate. 
The  company  were  well  received,  and  carried  through 
their  performances  with  unabated  spuit.  Evening 
scliools  were  also  establislied  in  both  sliips — the 
clerk  of  the  Fury  and  a  seaman  of  the  Ilecla  act- 
ing as  schoolmasters.  Twenty  men  of  each  ship 
passed  two  hours  every  evening  in  these  exercises, 
and  made  considerable  progress  in  their  studies. 

Amid  these  varied  and  pleasing  occupations  the 
shortest  day  j)assed  over  their  heads  almost  unol^served, 
especially  as  the  sun  never  entirely  left  them.  On 
Christmas-day  divine  service  was  performed  on  board 
the  Fury  and  attended  by  the  men  of  both  sliips. 
The  sailors  were  regaled  "with  fresh  beef,  cranbeiTy 
pies,  and  grog,  and  became  so  extremely  elevated,  that 
they  insisted  on  successively  drinking,  with  three 
hearty  cheers,  the  health  of  each  officer. 

The  winter  months  were  enlivened  by  various  beau- 
tiful appearances  which  the  sky  at  times  presented. 
Those  singular  and  beautiful  streams  of  light,  called 
the  Aurora  BoreaUs^  or  Northern  Lights,  keep  up  an 
almost  incessant  illumination.     The  light  had  a  ten- 


i'^ 


m 


"the    MEKRY    D^XJfOERS." 


1(19 


dency  to  form  an  iiregular  arch,  which,  in  calm 
weather,  was  often  very  distinct,  though  its  upper 
boundary  was  sel(h)ni  well-defined ;  but,  whenever 
the  air  became  ac'tnted,  showers  of  rays  sjjread  in 
every  direction  with  the  brilliancy  and  rapidity  of 
lightning.  No  rule,  however,  could  be  traced  in  the 
movement  of  those  lighter  parcels  called  "  the  merry 
dancers,"  which  flew  about  perpetually  in  every 
direction  and  towards  every  quarter.  In  stoi'iny 
weather  the  Northern  Lights  always  became  more  rai)i(l 
in  their  motions,  sharing  all  the  wildness  of  the  blast. 
They  gave  an  indescribable  air  of  magic  to  the  whole 
scene,  and  made  it  not  wonderful,  that  by  the  untaught 
Indian  they  should  be  viewed  as  "the  sj^irits  of  hia 
fathers  roaming  through  the  land  of  souls." 

On  the  morning  of  the  Ist  of  February  a  number 
of  distant  figures  were  seen  moving  over  the  ice,  and 
when  they  were  viewed  through  glasses,  the  cry  was 
raised,  "  Es(piimaux !  Esquimaux !"  As  it  was  of 
great  importance  to  deal  courteously  and  disci'eetly 
with  these  strangers,  the  two  commanders  formed  a 
party  of  six,  who  walked  in  files  behind  each  other 
that  they  might  cause  no  alarm.  The  Esquimaux 
then  formed  themselves  into  a  line  of  twenty-one, 
advanced  slowly,  and  at  length  made  a  full  stoj).  In 
this  order  they  saluted  the  strangers  by  the  usual 
movement  of  beating  their  breasts.  They  were  sub- 
stantially clothed  in  rich  and  dark  deer-skins,  and 
appeared  a  much  more  quiet  and  orderly  race  than 
their  rude  countrymen  of  the  Savage  Islands.  They 
had  pieces  of  whalebone  in  their  hands  which  they 
had  brought  hither  as  a  peace  offering  or  for  barter ; 
in  exchange  for  them  they  were  given  some  nails  and 
beads.    Some  of  the  women  who  had  handsome  furs 


i| 


1  » 


!ll  ;^' 


:m 


i 


'J 


m 


■ '  ; 


f. 

I  1 ! 


t4 


■i 


■«ii|niiiv 


L  "■■ 


III      ly 


!|ll 


If"      iiv' 

i.':. 
If         ,ili" 

i 


170 


ESQUIMAUX    NEIGHBORS    D18C0VEKED. 


on  Avliich  attracted  attention,  ))egan  to  strip  them  off, 
to  tlie  great  consternation  of  the  English — as  the  tern- 
pei'ature  was  far  below  zero — who  were  consoled  on 
finding  that  they  had  on  complete  doulde  suits. 

The  Esquimaux  then  by  signs  invited  the  English 
to  accomjiany  them  to  their  habitations,  which  >vere 
only  two  miles  from  the  ships,  but  had  not,  strange 
to  say,  been  before  discovered,  although  there  was  a 
settlement  of  five  houses  and  sixty  j)eople  with  their 
canoes,  sledges  and  dogs.  The  huts  were  made  en- 
tirely of  snow  and  ice,  with  ice  Avindows  at  the  top  to 
admit  light ;  entrance  was  effected  by  creeping  through 
low  passages  with  arched  doors ;  the  roofs  were  per- 
fect arched  domes,  and  from  a  circular  a2)artment  in 
the  centre,  arched  doorways  connected  with  three 
other  rooms. 

The  interior  of  these  mansions  presented  a  scene 
novel  and  interesting.  The  Avomen  were  seated  on 
the  beds  at  the  sides,  each  one  having  a  little  fire- 
place, or  lamp,  with  domestic  utensils  around  her. 
The  children  crept  behind  their  mothers,  and  the  dogs, 
excepting  those  on  the  beds,  slunk  out  doors  in  dis- 
may. Outside,  the  village  aj)peared  like  a  cluster  of 
hillocks,  but  successive  falls  of  snow  filled  up  the 
spaces  between  the  huts  and  made  the  surface  nearly 
level,  so  that  the  children  played  on  the  roofs,  and  as 
summer  advanced  occasionally  thrust  through  them  a 
leg  or  a  foot. 

After  a  cheerful  and  friendly  visit,  an  invitation 
was  given  to  the  Esquimaux  to  repair  to  the  ships, 
when  fifty  accepted  it.  Partly  walking  and  partly 
dancing  they  quickly  reached  the  vessels,  Avhere  a  strik- 
ing congeniality  of  spirit  was  soon  found  to  exist  be- 
tween them  and  the  sailors — boisterous  fun  forming 


AST0NI81UNO   TILK    NATIVES. 


171 


to  each  the  chief  source  of  enjoyment.  A  fiddle  and 
drum  being  [)roduced,  the  natives  struck  up  a  dance, 
or  rather  a  succession  of  vehement  leaj)s,  accomj)anied 
witli  loud  shouts  and  yells.  Seeing  the  Kabloonas  or 
Whites,  as  they  called  the  strangers,  engaged  in  the 
game  of  leai)-frog,  tliey  attempted  to  join ;  but  not 
duly  understanding  liow  to  measure  their  movements, 
they  made  such  over-leaps  as  sometimes  to  come  d(>\vn 
on  the  crown  of  their  heads.  Their  attention  was 
specially  attracted  to  the  effects  of  a  winch,  by  whicdi 
one  sailor  forcibly  drew  towards  him  a  party  of  ten 
or  twelve  of  their  number,  though  grinning  and  sti-ain- 
ing  every  nerve  in  resistance ;  but  finding  all  in  vain, 
they  joined  in  the  burst  of  good-humored  laughter  till 
tears  streamed  from  tlieir  eyes. 

One  intelligent  old  man  follo\ved  Lyon  to  the  cabin, 
and   viewed   with   rational  surprise  various   objects 
which  were  presented.     The  pei-formance  of  a  hand- 
ortran  and  a  musical  snuff-box  struck  him  with  breath- 
less  admiration;  and  on  seeing  drawings  of  the  Esipii 
.  maux  in  Hudson's  Strait,  he  soon  understood  tliem 
and  showed  the  difference  between  their  dress  and  a[)- 
pearance  and  that  of  his  own  tribe.     On  seeing  the 
sketch  of  a  bear,  he  raised  a  loud  cr}-,  drew  up  his 
sleeves,  and  showed  the  scars  of  three  deep  wounds 
received  in  encounters  with  that  terrible  animal.     The 
seamen  sought  to  treat  their  visitors  to  such  delicacies 
as  the  ship  afforded,  but  were  for  some  time  at  a  loss 
to  discover  how  their  palate  might  be  gratified.    Gn)g, 
the  seaman's  choicest  luxury,  only  one  old  woman 
could  be  induced  to  taste.     Sugar,  sweetmeats,  gin- 
gerbread, were  eaten  from  politeness  but  with  evident 
disgust ;  but  oil  and  anything  consisting  of  fat  or 
grease,  Avas  swallowed   in  immense   quantities,  and 


'^!'".'l 


f:  M 


172 


ASTOMHIIINO   THK   NATIVES. 


•>'    Id 


*^l 


I 


with  symptoms  of  exciuisite  delight.  An  ohl  woman, 
wlu)  Hokl  her  oil-pot,  took  cui'e  to  swnllow  its  contents 
and  lick  it  cleim  with  her  tongue  l)efore  parting  with 
it.  Captain  Lyon,  being  (iisposed  to  ingratiate  him- 
Ntfir  with  a  rather  handsome  young  damsel,  presented 
her  with  a  candle;  she  ate  the  tallow  with  eveiy 
symptom  of  enjoyment,  and  then  thrust  the  wick  into 
her  mouth. 

A  large  pack  of  wolves  remained  in  the  vicinity 
through  the  whole  winter,  in  eager  watch  for  any  vic- 
tim which  might  come  within  their  reach.  They  took 
a  station  between  the  huts  and  the  ships,  ready  to  act 
against  either  as  circumstances  might  dictate.  They 
di<l  not  attack  the  saih)rseven  Avhen  unarmed,  though 
they  were  often  seen  hovering  through  the  gl(K»m  in 
search  of  prey.  Every  stray  dog  was  seized,  and  when 
extremely  hungry  they  devoured  the  culjles  and  can- 
vas as  opportunity  ofF(;rc(l.  A  deadly  war  was  there- 
fore waged  against  them  by  the  sailoi-s,  and  many 
were  killed  and  given  to  the  Escpiimaux. 

As  spiing  advanced,  the  attention  of  the  oiRcere  » 
was  almost  Avholly  engrossed  by  the  prospect  of  navi- 
gation and  discovery  during  the  approaching  summer. 
Their  Esquimaux  neighbors  accustomed  to  move  from 
place  to  place,  were  found  to  have  an  extensive  knowl- 
edge of  the  seas  and  coasts.  One  woman,  named 
Iligliuk,  called  by  her  people  "  the  wise  woman,"  was, 
after  a  little  instruction,  enabled  to  convey  to  the 
strangers  the  outlines  of  her  g  jographical  knowledge 
in  the  fomi  of  a  rude  map. 

Captain  Lyon,  in  the  middle  of  March,  undertook  a 
Journey  across  a  piece  of  land  lying  south  of  the  ships, 
which  had  been  named  Winter  Island.  The  party 
were  scarcely  gone  when  they  encountered  a  heavy 


AN    KXOnUHION. 


173 


gale,  brinjjing  with  it  clouds  of  tlrifted  flnow  and  in- 
tense cold.  They  <lug  a  cave  in  tlie  snow,  and  by 
huddling  together  round  a  fire  to  which  no  vent  was 
al!<»wcd,  contrived  to  keep  up  a  degree  of  warmth. 
In  the  morning  their  Hledge  was  too  deeply  l)nri<d 
beneath  the  drift  to  leave  any  hoj)e Of  digging  it  out, 
and  they  started  for  the  shijm,  now  nix  miles  dintant, 
with  siM>w  falling  so  thick  that  they  could  not  see  a 
yard  before  them. 

They  Avere  soon  bewildered,  and  wandered  they 
Icnew  not  where  among  heavy  hummocks  of  ice;  some 
began  to  sink  into  that  insensibility  which  is  the  pre- 
lude to  death  by  cold,  and  to  reel  about  like  drunken 
men.  After  resigning  almost  every  hoj)e  of  deliver- 
nnct;  they  providentially  reached  the  ships,  where 
their  arrival  caused  indescri})able  joy,  as  they  had 
been  given  ni>  for  lost,  while  no  party  could  be  sent 
in  search  of  them  without  imminent  risk  of  shai'ing 
theii'  fate. 

In  May,  Captain  Lyon  undertook  another  ;|ourney. 
He  crossed  AVinter  Island,  and  also  the  frozen  strait 
separating  it  from  the  continent.  lie  then  proceeded 
some  distance  along  the  coast,  crossing  several  bays 
upon  the  ice,  and  at  last  came  in  view  of  a  bold  cape, 
which  he  vainly  hoped  was  the  extreme  western  point 
of  America.  Here  the  2>arty  were  overtaken  by  a 
storm  of  snow,  which  kept  them  imprisoned  in  their 
tents  for  sixty-eight  hours,  which  dreary  interval  they 
eidivened  by  reading  in  turn  from  three  books  they 
chanced  to  have  with  them ;  as  soon  as  the  sun  began 
to  shine  they  hastened  back  to  the  ships. 

The  end  of  May  presented  a  gloomy  aspect,  the  sea- 
son being  more  backward  than  it  had  been  in  the 
higher  latitude  of  Melville  Island.     The  snow  was 


174 


A    FIOIIT    WITH    WALRUS. 


*  IH 


dissolved  only  in  spots,  and  hardly  any  symptoms  of 
vegetation  were  visible ;  but  as  there  was  an  expanse 
of  open  water  in  the  sea  without,  Captain  Parry  de- 
termined upon  sawing  his  way  through  to  it.  This 
was  a  most  laborious  jjrocess,  and  after  the  seamen 
had  continued  at  it  more  than  a  fortnight,  and  w'ere 
within  forty-eight  hours  of  completing  a  canal,  the 
body  of  the  ice  made  a  movement  which  closed  it  en- 
tirely up.  Another  passage  opened,  and  then  closed, 
but  at  last  open  water  was  reached,  and  the  ships  sail- 
ed on  the  2d  of  July. 

The  shores  now  began  to  put  on  their  summer  as- 
pect ;  the  snow  had  nearly  disappeared,  and  the 
ground  was  covered  with  the  richest  bloom  of  Aictic 
vegetation.  The  explorers  came  to  a  fine  river  named 
Barrow,  which  formed  a  most  picturesque  fall  do^vn 
rocks  richly  fringed  with  very  brilliant  j)lants.  Here 
the  reindeer  sporting,  the  eider-duck,  the  golden  2)lover, 
and  the  snow-l)unting,  spreading  their  wings,  pro- 
duced a  gay  and  delightful  scene.  On  the  1-ltli  they 
reached  the  island  of  Amitioke,  where  they  saAV  about 
two  hundred  walruses  lying  piled  over  each  other  on 
the  loose  drift-ice.  A  boat's  crew  from  each  ship  ])ro- 
ceeded  to  the  attack;  br.t  these  gallant  amphibia, 
some  with  their  cubs  mounted  on  their  backs,  made 
the  most  desperate  resistance ;  three  only  Avere  killed. 

They  now  proceeded  northward,  and  saw  before 
them  a  bold  and  high  range  of  coast,  sei)arate(l  ap- 
parently from  that  along  which  they  were  sailing. 
This  feature  agreeing  with  the  map  drawn  by  the 
fair  Iligliuk,  flattered  them  that  they  were  appi-oach- 
ing  the  strait  exhibited  by  her  as  forming  the  entrance 
"ito  the  Polar  basin.  They  pushed  on  full  of  hope 
and  animation,  and  were  farther  cheered  by  reaching 


STOPl'ED    JiY    ICE. 


175 


the  small  island  of  Igloolik,  wliicli  slie  liad  described 
as  situated  at  the  commencement  of  the  passage. 
They  soon  saw  the  strait  stretching  westward  before 
them  in  long  perspecthe ;  but,  alas !  they  discovered 
at  the  same  moment  an  unbroken  sheet  of  ice  from 
shore  to  sliore,  crossing  and  blocking  np  the  passage ; 
and  this  not  a  loose  accidental  floe,  but  the  ice  of  the 
preceding  winter,  on  which  the  midsummer  sun  had 
not  produced  the  slightest  change. 

Unable  to  advance  a  single  step,  they  amused  them- 
selves with  land  excursions  in  different  directions;  and 
Captain  Parry  undertook,  on  the  14th  of  August,  Avith 
a  i)arty  of  six,  an  expedition  along  the  frozen  sui'face 
of  the  strait.  The  journey  was  very  laborious,  the 
ice  being  sometimes  thrown  up  in  rugged  hummocks, 
and  occasionally  leaving  large  spaces  of  open  Avater, 
which  it  was  necessary  to  cross  on  a  plank,  or  on 
pieces  of  ice  instead  of  boats.  In  four  days  they  came 
in  view  of  a  peninsula  terminated  by  a  bold  cape,  the 
ajiproach  to  which  was  guarded  by  successive  ranges 
of  strata,  resembling  the  tiers  or  galleries  of  a  high 
and  commanding  fortification.  The  party  scrandiled 
to  the  summit,  Avhence  they  enjoyed  a  most  gratifying 
spectacle.  They  were  at  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
strait,  here  about  two  miles  across,  and  a  tide  or  cur- 
rent A\  as  runninc;  throuiih  it  at  tlie  rate  of  two  miles 
an  hour.  Westward  the  shores  on  each  side  receded, 
till,  for  three  points  of  the  compass  and  amid  a  clear 
horizon  no  land  was  visible.  The  captain  doubted 
not  that  from  this  position  he  beheld  the  Polar  sea; 
and  hoped  notwithstanding  the  formidable  barriers  of 
ice  Avhicli  intervened  to  force  his  way  into  it.  He 
named  this  the  Strait  of  the  Fury  and  Hecla,  and  gave 
the  sailors  an  extra  can  of  grog,  to  drink  a  safe  and 
speedy  passage  through  its  channel. 


i 


1 ; 


li 


I 


if].! 


176 


AGAIN    FROZEN    IN. 


'  .    -   i:- 


,^       « 


I  I. 


M'H 


PaiTy  now  lost  no  time  in  retiiiiiing  to  the  sliips, 
where  his  arrival  was  seasonable,  fortlie  opposini^  l)ar- 
rier  which  had  been  gradually  softening  and  ci'acldiig, 
at  ouce  almost  entirely  disappeared.  On  the  21:  t  the 
ships  got  under  way ;  and,  though  retarded  by  fogs 
and  other  obstructions,  arrived  on  the  26th  at  that 
narrowest  channel  which  the  commander  had  formerly 
reached.  A  brisk  breeze  now  sprang  up,  tlie  fsky 
cleared,  they  dashed  across  a  current  of  three  or  four 
knots  an  hour,  and  sanguinely  expected  entire  success. 
Suddenly,  from  the  crow's  nest  above,  it  Avas  an- 
nounced that  ice  filled  the  channel.  In  an  hour  they 
reached  this  barrier,  and  finding  it  soft,  spread  all 
their  canvas  and  forced  their  way  into  it  a  distance 
when  they  were  stopped.  From  this  point,  during 
the  whole  season,  the  ships  were  unable  to  advance. 

Captain  Lyon  undertook  an  expedition  southward, 
to  ascertain  if  any  inlet  or  passage  from  sea  to  sea  in 
this  direction  had  escaped  notice.  The  country  was 
so  filled  with  high  rocky  hills,  and  \vith  chains  of 
lakes  in  which  much  ice  was  floating,  that  he  could 
not  proceed  above  sev^en  miles.  Though  it  was  the 
begimiing  of  September,  the  season  was  only  that  of 
early  spring.  Another  excursion  was  made  by  a 
party  who  penetrated  sixty  miles  westward  along  the 
southern  coast  of  Cockbum  Island,  till  they  reached 
a  pinnacle,  whence  they  saw  the  Polar  ocean  spread- 
ing before  them ;  but  tremendous  barriers  of  ice  filled 
the  strait,  and  i)recluded  all  approach. 

It  was  now  the  middle  of  September,  and  the  usual 
symptoms  of  deer  trooping  in  herds  southward,  float- 
ing pieces  of  ice  consolidating  into  masses,  and  the 
thin  crust  forming  on  the  surface  of  the  waters,  re- 
minded the  mariners  not  only  that  thev  could  hope 


M 


A  CJIELUIXG    SPECTACLE. 


irr 


for  no  farther  removal  of  the  obstacles  Avhich  arrested 
their  progress,  but  that  they  must  h«e  no  thne  in  pro- 
viding Avinter-qiiarters.  The  middle  of  the  strait,  at 
the  spot  where  they  had  been  first  stopped,  was  a  fav- 
orable station  for  future  discovery  ;  but  prudence  sug- 
gested a  doubt  whether  the  ships  enclosed  in  tliis  icy 
prison  could  ever  1)e  released. 

On  the  30th  of  October,  l>y  the  usual  operation  of 
sawing,  the  ships  were  cstablif.hed  in  a  harbor  at 
Igloolik.  The  ensuing  season  Avas  passed  witli  the 
most  careful  attention  to  the  health  and  comfort  of 
the  crews;  but  thou -h  their  spirits  did  not  sink,  there 
appears  to  have  been  on  the  wliole,  less  gayety  and 
lightness  of  heart  than  in  the  tAvo  former  winterinijs, 
and  the  drama  and  school  were  not  revived.  On  the 
5th  of  Januaiy  1823,  the  horizon  was  so  brightly  suf- 
fused with  red,  that  they  hoped  to  see  the  sun  ;  but  a 
fortnight  of  thick  fog  occasioned  a  disappointment. 
On  the  19th,  the  sky  having  cleared,  they  saw  it  rise 
attended  by  two  j^arhelia,  and  both  crews  turned  out 
to  enjoy  the  novelty  and  splendor  of  this  cheering 
spectacle. 

The  sailors  found  at  Igloolik  a  colony  of  Esqui- 
maux, who  received  them  at  first  with  surprise  and 
some  degree  of  alarm  ;  but  on  learning  they  Avere  from 
Winter  Island  and  intimate  with  its  tenants  of  last 
season,  they  hailed  them  at  once  as  familiar  acquaint- 
ances. These  natives  belonged  to  the  same  trilie,  and 
were  connected  by  alliance  and  close  relationship  with 
many  individuals  of  the  Winter  Island  party,  of 
whom,  therefore,  they  were  delighted  to  receive  tid- 
ings. The  crews  spent  the  winter  Avith  them  on  quite 
a  friendly  footing,  and  rendered  important  services  to 
them  during  a  period  of  severe  sickness. 


im 


'/'S 


M 


]^ 


f:^ 


fflW 


178 


THE    I'Alll    ESQUIMAUX. 


m\ 


■if-     1, 


"^    ■■.in.ni 


The  navigators  were  received  with  the  most  cordial 
hospitality  into  the  little  huts,  where  the  best  meat 
was  set  before  them,  and  the  women  vied  with  each 
other  in  the  attentions  of  cooking,  drying  and  mend- 
ing their  clothes.  "The  women  working  and  singing, 
their  husbands  quietly  mending  their  lines,  the  chil- 
dren playing  before  the  door,  and  the  pot  boiling  over 
the  blaze  of  a  cheerful  lamp,"  gave  a  pleasing  picture 
of  savage  life.  Yet  a  continued  intercourse  showed 
that  the  Esquimaux  inherited  their  full  share  of  human 
frailty.  The  fair  Esquimaux  are  charged  with  a  strong 
propensity  to  slander,  which  was  natural  to  them  as 
they  sat  in  circles  round  the  door  mending  their  lines. 
Their  own  conduct,  meantime,  is  said  to  have  afforded 
ample  scope  for  censure,  especially  in  regard  to  con- 
nubial fidelity. 

The  principal  deity  of  these  people  was  Aywillai- 
yoo,  a  female,  immensely  tall,  vnth  only  the  left  eye, 
and  wearing  a  pigtail  reaching  to  her  knee.  Lyon 
witnessed  a  mighty  incantation,  in  which  Toolemak, 
the  chief  magician,  summoned  Aywillaiyoo  to  the 
upper  world  to  utter  her  oracles.  The  party  ^^'ere 
assembled  in  a  hut,  whei'e  light  after  light  was  put 
out  till  they  Avere  left  in  total  darkness.  Toolemak 
then,  after  loud  invocations,  professed  to  descend  to 
the  world  below  to  bring  up  the  goddess.  Soon  there 
arose  a  low  chant  of  peculiar  sound,  imagined  to  be 
the  voice  of  Aywillaiyoo.  During  half  an  hour,  in 
reply  to  the  loud  screams  and  questions  of  her  votaries, 
she  uttered  dubious  and  mystical  responses ;  after 
which  the  sound  died  away,  and  she  was  supposed  to 
descend  beneath  the  earth;  then  Toolemak  with  a 
shout  announced  his  own  return  to  the  upper  world. 

The  natives  believe  also  in  a  future  world,  the  em- 


AN   ESQUIMAUX   31AGICIAN. 


179 


ployments  and  pleasures  of  ^vllich,  according  to  the 
usual  creed  of  savage  races,  are  all  sensual.  The  soul 
descends  beneath  the  earth  through  successive  abodes, 
the  first  of  which  has  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  jnir- 
gatory ;  but  the  good  spirits  passing  through  it  lind 
the  other  mansions  successively  improve,  till  they 
reach  that  of  perfect  bliss,  far  beneath,  where  the  sun 
never  sets,  and  where,  by  the  side  of  large  lakes  that 
never  freeze,  the  deer  roam  in  vast  herds  and  the 
seal  and  Avalrus  always  abound  in  the  waters. 

One  of  the  Esquimaux  having  lost  his  wife,  as  it 
was  very  difficult  to  dig  a  grave,  the  sailors  piled  (n-er 
her  a  heap  of  stones  to  protect  her  from  wild  animals. 
The  man  gave  thanks,  but  not  cordially ;  he  even  ex- 
pressed a  dread  lest  the  weight  would  be  painfully 
felt  by  his  deceased  spouse ;  and  soon  after,  when  an 
infant  died,  he  declared  her  wholly  incapable  of  bear- 
ing such  a  burden  and  would  allow  nothing  but  snow 
to  be  laid  over  her. 

The  spring  proved  singularly  backward,  and  it  was 
the  7th  of  August  before  they  Avere  able,  by  hard  saw- 
ing, to  reach  the  open  sea;  by  which  time  hope  of 
effecting  any  thing  important  during  that  season  was 
reliiKpiished.  The  voyage  homeward  was  soon  after- 
ward commenced,  and  the  explorers  reached  England 
in  October.  As  nothing  had  been  heard  of  them 
during  their  two  years'  absence,  they  were  viewed 
almost  as  men  risen  from  the  dead.  The  bells  of  Ler- 
Avick  Avere  rung,  and  other  extraordinary  demonstra- 
tions of  joy  made  on  their  arrival. 

A  third  expedition  under  Parry  sailed  from  Eng- 
land on  the  19th  of  May,  1824.  It  consisted  of  the 
two  ships  Avith  Avhich  he  had  made  his  last  voyage — 
the  Hecla  and  Fury,  the    latter   being  commanded 


wmmtmm 


180 


PAREY  8   THIRD    EXPEDITION. 


i<ii 


.!■■ 


II 


by  Capt.  H.  P.  Hoppner,  who  had  already  made  several 
voyages  with  Parry.  It  was  not  till  the  10th  of  Sept. 
that  they  Avere  able  to  enter  Lancaster  Sound,  and 
on  the  1st  of  October  they  anchored  for  the  winter  at 
Port  Bo  wen  in  Prince  Regent's  Inlet. 

As  the  amusements  of  former  winters  had  been 
worn  threadbare,  masquerades  were  started  and  kept 
up  monthly  thi-oughout  the  winter.  Schools  also 
were  opened  and  continued  with  much  benefit  to  the 
scholars. 

On  the  19th  of  July,  by  sawing  through  the  ice  the 
navigators  reached  open  water  and  proceeded  down 
the  inlet,  which  was  filled  with  fragments  of  ice,  mak- 
ing navigation  dangerous.  Subsequently  they  drifted 
with  the  ice  till  the  ships  lay  close  to  the  shore,  over 
which  towered  high  perpendicular  cliffs,  fragments 
from  which  were  constantly  falling. 

About  the  first  of  August  a  gale  came  on,  which 
drove  the  ice  against  the  ships  so  that  they  became 
unmanageable,  and  were  carried  along  witli  great 
speed  and  grounded  on  the  icy  beach.  Both  vessels 
were  severely  nipped,  but  got  off  with  high  water. 

On  the  21st  the  Fury  was  again  forced  on  shore, 
and  as  it  w^as  impossible  to  repair  her  she  was  aban- 
doned, and  her  crew  went  on  board  the  Hecla. 
Years  afterward  the  stores  of  the  deserted  ship 
served  to  comfort  and  sustain  British  sailors  when  in 
s.^'%  V  jistftnces  of  great  peril. 

TJ«'  moessant  labor  and  anxiety  and  the  frequent 
kii^^^'  'f; '.  danger  into  which  the  Hecla  was  thrown 
in  thfc  ;  i' tempts  to  save  her  comrade,  continued  for 
nearly  a  month,  destroyed  every  chance  of  accomplish- 
ing the  objects  of  the  voyage ;  Pany  therefore 
started  for  England  where  he  arrived  in  October. 


CHAPTER  XIII.   . 
VOYAGE  OF  THE  DOROTHEA  AND  TRENT. 

(bUCHAN FRANKLTN.) 

The  English  Expedition  toward  the  Pole  in  1818, 
referred  to  in  Chapter  IX,  was  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain David  Buchan,  who  sailed  in  the  Dorothea ;  the 
other  ship  of  the  expedition,  the  Trent,  was  command- 
ed by  Lt.  John  Franklin.  Frederic  Beechy,  who  pub- 
lished an  account  of  the  voyage,  and  George  Back 
were  officers  on  the  latter  vessel. 

The  ships  left  England  in  April,  their  appointed 
place  of  rendezvous  in  case  of  separation  being  Mag- 
dalena  Bay,  Spitzbergen.  They  reached  Bear  Island 
toward  the  close  of  May ;  here  the  walrus  were  very 
numerous  and  were  carefully  studied.  Their  affec- 
tion for  their  young,  their  unflinching  courage  in  de- 
fending them,  and  their  conduct  towards  a  wounded 
companion  were  remarkable.  It  was  noticed  in  a 
fight  with  them,  that  when  one  was  wounded  others 
desisted  from  the  attack  and  assisted  their  companion 
from  the  field  of  battle,  swimming  around  him  and 
holding  him  up  with  their  tusks. 

Early  in  June  the  two  ships  anchored  in  Magdalena 
Bay,  in  the  vicinity  of  numerous  glaciers,  the  smallest 
of  which,  called  the  Hanging  Iceberg,  was  two  hundred 

181 


W: 


182 


AN   AVALANCHE. 


■■!"  K 


III 


mM 


feet  above  the  water  on  the  slope  of  a  mountain.  So 
easily  were  large  fragments  of  ice  detached  fi'om  these 
glaciers  that  silence  became  necessary.  The  firing 
of  a  gun  rarely  failed  to  be  followed  by  an  avalanclie, 
and  two  of  these  witnessed  by  Beechy  were  on  the 
most  magnificent  scale.  An  immense  piece  slid  from 
a  mountain  into  the  bay,  where  it  disappeared,  and 
nothing  was  seen  but  a  violent  commotion  of  the  wa- 
ter and  clouds  of  spray.  On  re-appearing  it  raised  its 
head  a  hundred  feet  above  the  surface  with  water 
pouring  down  from  all  parts  of  it.  When  it  became 
stationary  it  was  measured  and  estimated  to  weigh 
421,660  tons. 

The  avalanche  in  falling  into  the  water,  made  such 
a  commotion  that  the  Dorothea,  which  was  anchored 
four  miles  distant,  was  careened  over  and  had  to  be 
set  right  by  releasing  the  tackles. 

The  explorers  left  this  locality  on  the  7th  of  June, 
and  sailing  northward  passed  the  north-western  bound- 
ary of  Spitzbergen.  Beyond  Red  Bay  they  were  stop- 
ped by  the  ice  and  remained  imbedded  in  a  floe  for 
thirteen  days,  and  afterward  took  shelter  in  Fair 
Haven. 

On  the  6th  of  July  the  explorers  again  sailed  north, 
but  soon  after  encountered  ice  through  which  were 
channels  of  water.  As  the  mnd  was  favorable  one  of 
them  was  entered,  but  at  evening  it  closed  up  and  all 
attempts  to  get  farther  were  in  vain,  as  they  were  con- 
tinually drifted  south  with  the  ice.  The  highest  lati- 
tude reached  was  80°  34'. 

Having  given  this  route  a  fair  trial  Buchan  started 
toward  the  Greenland  coast.  While  sailing  along  the 
edge  of  the  ice  a  sudden  gale  arose,  and  to  escape 
wreck  the  ships  steered  straight  toward  the  pack,  sur- 


A    DANGEROUS    POSITIOX. 


183 


rouniled  by  immense  pieces  of  ice.  It  was  doiihtful 
wliiit  the  I'esult  would  be  when  tLe  ships  reached  the 
solid  ice,  but  the  crew  preserved  the  greatest  calmness 
and  resolution.  Beechy  says : — "  I  will  not  conceal 
the  pride  I  felt  in  witnessing  the  bold  and  decisive 
tone  in  which  the  orders  were  issued  by  the  conmuuider 
of  our  little  vessel  (Franklin),  and  the  pronii)titude 
and  steadiness  with  which  they  were  e>!ecuted  by  the 
crew.  Each  person  instinctively  secured  his  own  hold 
and,  ^vith  his  eyes  fixed  iij)on  the  masts,  awaited  in 
breathless  anxiety  the  moment  of  concussion.  It  soon 
arrived ;  the  brig,  cutting  her  way  through  the  light 
ice,  came  in  violent  contact  with  the  main  Ixxly.  In 
an  instant  w^e  all  lost  our  footing,  the  masts  bent  with 
the  impetus,  and  the  cracking  timljers  from  below  be- 
S})i>ke  a  pressure  which  was  calculated  to  awaken  our 
serious  apprehensions.  The  ship's  motion  was  so 
great  that  the  bell,  which  in  the  heaviest  gale  of  w  ind 
liad  never  struck  of  itself,  now  tolled  so  continually 
that  it  was  ordered  to  be  muffled  for  the  jiurpose  of 
escaping  the  unpleasant  associations  it  was  calculated 
to  produce." 

For  a  few  hours  the  explorers  remained  fast  in  this 
ti'ying  position  ;  then  the  gale  ceased,  and  the  pack 
broke  up  sufficiently  to  release  the  shi])s  which  ^vere 
greatly  damaged — the  Dorothea  being  in  a  foundering 
condition.  They  made  their  way  to  Fair  Haven, 
and  after  partially  repairing  the  ships  sailed  for  homo 
vliere  they  arrived  in  October.  This  was  Franklin's 
first  Arctic  voyage. 

11 


M 


I 


L'll 


I  I 


:::i'  i 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FRANKLIN'S   LAND  EXPEDITIONS   TO  THE 
SHORES  OF  THE  POLAR  SEA. 

The  English  Government  having  determined  upon 
sending  an  Expedition  from  the  shores  of  Hudson's 
Bay  l)y  land,  to  explore  the  northern  coast  of  America 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Coppermine  River  to  the  east- 
ward, Ijieut.  John  Franklin  was  appointed  its  com- 
mander, and,  with  Surgeon  John  Richardson  and 
Midshipmen  George  Back  and  Rohert  Hood,  all  of  the 
Ro}'al  Navy,  embarked  on  Sunday  the  28d  of  May 
1811),  at  Gravsend,  England,  on  board  the  ship  Prince 
of  Wales,  belonging  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
The  ship  arrived  at  its  destination,  York  Factory,  on 
the  western  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay,  Aug.  30th,  hav- 
ing narrowly  escaped  total  wreck — being  carried  on 
to  the  rocky  coast  of  Labrador  in  a  dense  fog,  from 
which  position  she  was  extricated  in  a  leaky  condition. 

At  this  time  a  violent  competition  for  the  fur  trade 
existed  between  the  Noilh-west  and  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Companies,  Avhich  finally  led  to  the  extinction 
of  the  first  named.  The  officers  and  employes  of  both 
companies  were  directed  by  the  Government  to  len- 
der the  explorers  every  aid  needed.  Governor  Wil- 
liams of  the  II.  B.  Co.  received  them  at  York  Factory, 
and  they  "were  soon  fitted  out  with  a  suital)le  boat,  and 
a  cre^v  made  up  mostly  from  the  ship's  company.     Ou 

184 


FKANKLIN's    riKST   LAND    EXPEDITION', 


185 


HE 


upon 
Lson's 
verica 
!  east- 
com- 
1  and 
of  tlie 

ipany. 
iry,  on 
I,  luiv- 
ied  on 
from 
llition. 
trade 
Llsou's 
iit'tlon 

l)Otll 

ren- 

Lctoi-y, 

[t,  and 

On 


tlie  Otli  of  September,  they  Iwgaii  tlieir  journey  hy  way 
of  the  rivers  ami  hikes,  to  the  mouth  of  the  C()])per- 
iiiine  lliver,  distant  over  fifteen  hundred  nules,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Polar  J^e:i.  Tliey  Avere  soon  afterAvards 
overtaken  hy  hoats  of  tlie  Company.  A  poiiion  of 
the  following  history  of  their  travels  is  given  in  the 
Avords  of  Franklin  and  liis  eompanions. 

"We  embarked  at  noon,  and  were  honored  with  a 
.salute  of  eight  guns  and  three  cheers  from  the   Gov- 
ernor and  all  the  innuites  of  the  fort,   assembled  to 
■witness  our  dei)arture.     AVe  gratefully  returned  their 
cheers,  and  then  made  sail,  much  delighted  at  having 
now   c(mimenced    our   voyage   into   the    interior   of 
America.     The   wind  and  tide  failing  us  at  the  dis- 
tance of  six  miles  above  the  Factory,  and  the  current 
heing  too  rai)id  for  using  oars  to  advantage,  the  crew 
had  to  commence  tracking,  or  (h'agging  the  boat  by  a 
line,  to  which  they  were  harnessed.     This  oj)cration  is 
cxti'emely  lal)orious  in  these  rivers.     At  sunset  Ave 
landed,  and  jjitched  the  tent  for  the   night,  having 
iiiiule  a  progress  of  tAvelve   miles.     A  large  fire  Avas 
quickly  kindled,    supper  speedily   jjrepared,  and    as 
readily  despatched,  Avlien  A\"e  retired  Avith  t)ur  buil'alo 
rohes  on,  and  enjoyed  a  night  of  sound  repose. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  l(Sth,  the  country  Avas  clothed 
hi  the  livery  of  Avinter,  a  heavy  fall  of  snoAV  having 
taken  jdace  during  the  night.  It  is  not  easy  for  any 
hut  an  eye-Avitness  to  form  an  adecpnite  idea  of  the  ex- 
ertions of  the  Orkney  boatnun  in  the  navigation  of 
tills  river.  The  necessity  they  Avere  under  of  fre- 
quently junii)ing  into  the  Avater,  to  lift  the  ]/oats  over 
tlie  rocks,  compels  then)  to  remain  the  Avliole  day  in 
Met  clothes,  at  a  season  Avhen  the  temperatiu'e  is  far 
helow  the  freezing  point.     The  immense  loads  too, 


m 


7T^ 


18G 


PEUILH    OF    UIVKU    NAVKJATIOX. 


I,  yi,    ic'>.  1 


:*f-     H^ 


which  thoy  cjiiTy  overtho  jxH'tagOH,  is  not  moron  mat- 
t('r  of  Nurj)ris(^  timn  the  nhicrity  with  whicli  they  ix-i*- 
form  these  lu})orioiiH  duties. 

"  On  the  22(1,  our  route  led  us  amongst  miuiy  woo(h'd 
ishmds,  which  lying  in  hmg  vistas,  produced  scenes  of 
much  heauty.  In  tlie  course  of  the  day  we  crossed  the 
Uj)j)er  Portag<',  surmounted  the  Devil's  Landing  Place, 
and  urged  the  boats  with  ])oles  througli  (Jroundwater 
Creek.  At  the  u])|)er  end  of  this  creek,  our  l)ownmii 
haviiii^  ijiven  the  l)oat  too  l)road  a  sheer,  to  avoid  the 
rock,  it  Aras  caught  on  the  broadside  by  the  cm'- 
rent,  and,  in  defiance  of  our  utmost  exertions,  hurried 
down  the  ra])id.  Fortunately,  however,  it  groiuided 
against  a  rock  high  enough  to  ])revent  the  current 
from  oversetting  it,  and  the  crews  of  the  other  bouts 
liaving  come  to  our  assistance,  we  succeeded,  after 
several  trials,  in  throwing  a  rope  to  them,  with  which 
they  dragged  our  almost  sinking  vessel  stern  foremost 
up  the  stream,  and  I'escued  us  from  our  perilous  situ- 
ation. 

"  The  Painted  Stone  is  a  Ioav  rock,  ten  or  twelve 
yards  across,  remarkable  f(^r  the  marshy  streams 
Avhich  arise  on  each  side  of  it,  takim;  different  courses. 
On  the  one  side,  the  water-course  Avhich  we  have  nav- 
igated from  York  Factory  conmiences.  On  the  otlier 
side  of  the  st(^ne  the  Echemamis  arises.  IIa\ing 
launched  the  boats  over  the  rock,  we  commenced  the 
descent  of  that  river,  and  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Saskatchawan  at  midnight,  October  0th. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  20th  Ave  came  to  a  party  of 
Indians,  encamped  behind  the  bank  of  the  river,  on 
the  borders  of  a  small  marshy  lake.  Here  Ave  Avere 
gratified  Avith  the  ahcav  of  a  A^ery  large  tent ;  its  cover- 
ing Avas  moose  deer  leather,  Avitli  apertures  for  the  ess- 


FUANKLIN  S    I'lKST    LAM)    KXITDITION. 


187 


mat- 
per- 

ihIciI 
eH  of 
\  {\w 
.'lace, 

SVtltt'l' 
^VUKlll 

n\  the 
0   c'ur- 

i\in(letl 
•urveiit 

Y  l)()ilts 

I,  after 

Avliic'h 

eiiiost 
us  Hitu- 

twelve 
streams 
•oiirses. 
,ve  11  av- 
e  otlier 
Having 
iCed  tlie 
of  tlie 

)arty  of 
Kver,  on 
|ye  were 

t8  cover- 
tlie  es- 


cap(5  of  tlie  Hinoke  from  tlu^  fires  wliieli  wen;  j)lace(l  at 
eaeli  end  ;  n  ledge  of  wood  was  ])laeed  on  tlu;  ground 
on  l)otli  sides  of  the  wh()le  length  of  tin;  tent,  witliin 
wliieh  were  the  sh'eping  pLiees,  arranged  ])ro])al)ly  ac- 
cording to  families  ;  and  the  drnms  and  other  instru- 
laents  of  enchantment  were  ])iled  nj)  in  tin;  centn;. 
(Jovernor  Williams  gave  a  dram  an<l  a  piece  of  tobacco 
to  each  of  the  males  of  tlu^  pai'ty." 

The  travelers  reached  Cumherland  House,  a  tradinsr 
j)()st (originally  hnilt  hy  Ilearne)  October  2i*d,  and  an 
winter  was  setting  in,  making  travel  by  -water  imprac- 
ticable, made  a  long  halt  there. 

"After  the  2()th  Decend)er  the  weather  became  cold, 
the  thermometer  constantly  beloAv  zero,  (^liristmas- 
(lay  was  particularly  storm}' ;  l)ut  the  gnle  did  not 
prevent  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  festivities  -which  are 
aiunially  given  at  the  Cund)erlaud  Iloust;  on  this  day. 
All  the  men  -who  had  been  despatched  to  different 
})arts  in  search  of  provision  or  furs  returned  to  the  fort 
(tu  the  occasion,  and  -were  regaled  with  a  substantial 
dinner  and  a  dance  in  the  evening. 

"The  new}ear  iSi'O  Avas  ushered  in  by  repeated  dis- 
charges of  musketry;  a  ceremony  which  has  been  ob- 
seived  by  the  men  of  both  the  trading  Companies  for 
many  years.  Our  party  dined  -with  jMr.  Connolly,  and 
-were  regaled  Avith  a  beaver,  Avhich  we  found  extreme- 
ly delicate.  In  the  evening  his  men  Avere  entertained 
with  a  dance,  in  which  the  Canadians  (>xhlbite<l  some 
grace  and  nuich  agility;  and  they  contrived  to  infuse 
some  portion  of  their  activity  and  s])irits  into  the  steps 
of  their  female  companions.  The  half-breed  Avomen 
are  passionately  fond  of  this  amusement." 

On  the  ISth  of  January,  FrankUn,  Back,  and  John 
Hepburn,  a  seaman,  set  out  on  snow  shoes  for  a  jt)urney 


f!" 


,( 


'i  '*  J' 


W 


M? 


' 


l(  > 


!  fi      ^ 


1 
'*  Mil. 


t      f 


.t    i  I 


1:   ' 


!l  !    if 


1  i 


u 


I     If 


I  (* 


,«'..  ,  I  M' 


188 


A    WINTEIl's    JOUKNEY. 


to  Fort  Cliipewyan,  eight  Jinndred  and  fifty-seven 
miles  to  the  north.  Tliey  were  pi'ovided  witli  two 
carioles  and  two  sh'dijes,  with  tlieir  dri\'ers  and  doo-s. 
Being  accompanied  Ly  Mr.  Mackenzie,  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Comjxmy,  avIio  Avas  going  to  Isle  a  la  Crosse, 
Avith  four  sledges  under  his  cliarge,  they  formed  (pnte 
a  procession,  keeping  in  an  Indian  file,  in  the  track  of 
the  man  who  preceded  the  foremost  dogs. 

The  travelers  rested  occasionally  at  the  trading  posts 
which  lay  (Mi  their  route.  At  Carlton  House  the}' 
were  visited  hy  the  Stone  Indians,  who  lived  in  that 
section  and  were  famous  for  stealinij:  everythino 
they  could  find,  particularly  horses,  Avliich  they 
maintained  were  common  property  sent  hy  the  Al- 
mighty for  the  general  use  of  man.  They  kept  in 
amity  with  their  neighbors  the  Crees,  from  motives  oi 
interest ;  and  the  two  trihes  united  in  determined  hos 
tility  aijainst  the  nations  dwelliiuj  to  the  westward, 
which  were  genei-ully  called  Slave  Indians — a  tei'm  of 
reproach  ai)plied  hy  the  Crees  to  those  tril>es  against 
"whom  they  have  waged  successful  wars. 

While  at  Carlton  House;,  Franklin  Avent  six  miles 
to  visit  a  Cree  encampment.  The  chief's  tent  had  heen 
arranged  for  the  occasion,  fresh  grass  Avas  spread  on 
the  ground,  and  Initfalo  rol)es  Avere  placed  opjiosite 
the  door  to  sit  on ;  and  a  kettle  Av^as  on  the  fire  to  cook 
meat.  The  chief,  nn  old  man,  Avelcomed  him  A\"ith  a 
hearty  shake  of  the  hand  and  the  customary  salutation 
of  "What  cheer?" 

"  After  a  feAv  minutes'  couA^ersation,  an  inA'itation 
Avas  given  to  the  chief  and  his  hunters  to  smoke  the 
calumet  Avith  us,  as  a  token  of  our  friendship:  this 
Avas  loudly  announced  through  the  cam]->,  and  ten  men 
from  the   other  tents  immediately  Joined  our  party. 


itloii 
the 
this 
men 
n-ty. 


•!      i 


m 


f*^" 


Ij^i 


M 


'I'lh^' 


\m 


Him 


[f!\l 


m' 


mimf, 


'   II 


-!'   ii  f 


1-  l\ 


,:li;;^!■ 


0 

en 

TJ 

Pi 

rec 

he 

to 

ter 

0ff( 

on] 

Wll( 

2)er! 
1 

hrrr 

o 

hors 

— an 

^\]ie] 

A 

elers 

hh 

aiiotl 

the  2 

there 

on  wi 

Dr. 

winte; 

accoui 

m]io  a\ 

"T]i 

Those 

relief ; 

to  (list; 

nenced 


FKAIS'KLI]M  S    IlKST    LA^U    EXPEDITION. 


189 


On  tlieir  entrance  the  women  and  cliildren,  whose  pres- 
ence on  sucli  occasions  is  contrary  to  etiquette,  withdrew. 
The  calumet  haA'ing  been  prepared  and  liglited  l)y  Mr. 
Pruden's  clerk,  was  presented  to  the  chief,  who,  on 
receiving  it,  performed  the  following  ceremony  before 
he  commenced  smoking : — lie  first  j)ointed  the  stem 
to  the  south,  then  to  the  west,  north,  and  east,  and  af- 
terwards to  the  heaveni=i,  the  earth,  and  the  fire,  as  an 
offering  to  the  presiding  spirits; — he  took  three  Avhiifs 
only,  and  then  passed  the  pipe  to  his  next  comi)anion, 
who  took  the  same  number  of  whiffs,  and  so  did  each 
person  as  it  went  round." 

The  Crees  catch  buffalo  by  driving  them  into  a 
large  enclosure  or  pound ;  they  also  hunt  them  on 
liorseback ;  ajid  when  the  creatui'es  are  very  shy  they 
cra^l  towards  them  diso-uised  in  the  skins  of  the  wolf 
— an  animal  with  which  the  buffalo  are  familiar,  and, 
when  in  herds,  not  afraid  of. 

At  their  dej^arture  from  one  trading  post  the  trav- 
elers were  much  amused  by  a  salute  of  musketry  fired 
l)y  half-l)reed  women — the  men  being  all  absent.  At 
another  place  a  dance  was  given  in  their  honor.  On 
the  2Gth  of  March  they  reached  Foi-t  Chipewyan,  and 
there  halted  for  their  companions  who  were  to  come 
on  Avith  the  boats  after  navigation  opened. 

Dr.  Richardson,  who  with  I\Ir.  Hood  passed  the 
winter  at  Cumberland  House,  gives  an  interesting 
account  of  his  residence  there,  and  of  the  Ci-ee  Indians, 
mIio  were  frequent  visitors  at  the  fort : — 

"  Tlie  winter  proved  extremely  severe  to  the  Indians. 
Those  who  Avere  aide  came  to  the  fort  and  received 
relief ;  but  many  who  liad  retired  with  their  families 
to  distant  corners,  to  pursue  their  winter  hunts,  expe- 
rienced all  the  horrors  of  famine.     One  evening  a  poor 


i$ 


!  .1 


■     I 


i/ 


''iiillifj*^ 


I   H 


I  IV 


190 


TESTING    A    CONJUIIEU'S    SKILL, 


Indian  entered  the  North-west  Company's  House,  car- 
rying Lis  only  child  in  his  arms,  and  followed  by  his 
starving  wife.  They  had  been  hunting  ai)art  from 
the  other  bands,  had  T)een  unsuccessful,  and  whilst  in 
want  were  seized  with  the  epidemical  disease.  They 
had  -walked  several  days  ■without  eating,  yet  exerting 
themselves  far  beyond  their  strength  that  they  might 
save  the  life  of  the  infaiit.  It  died  almost  Avitliin 
sight  of  the  house.  ]Mr.  Connolly,  who  Avas  then  in 
charge  of  the  post,  received  them  with  the  utmost 
humanity,  and  instantl}'  placed  food  before  them  ;  but 
no  lana:uau:e  can  describe  the  manner  in  Avliich  the 
miserable  father  dashed  the  morsel  from  his  lijjs  and 
deplored  the  loss  of  his  child.  IMisery  may  harden 
a  disposition  naturally  ])ad,  but  it  never  fails  to  soften 
the  heart  of  a  good  man. 

"  Every  Cree  fears  the  medical  or  conjuring  powers 
of  his  n(n<j:hbor;  but  at  the  same  time  exalts  his  own 
attainments  to  the  skies.  'I  am  God-like'  is  a  com- 
mon expression  amongst  them,  and  they  prove  their 
divinityshi})  by  eating  live  coals,  and  by  various  tricks 
of  a  similar  nature.  A  medicine  bag  is  an  indispensa- 
ble part  of  a  hunter's  equipment,  and  is,  when  in  the 
hands  of  a  noted  conjurer,  such  an  object  of  terror  to 
the  rest  of  the  tril)e,  that  its  possessor  is  enabled  to 
fatten  at  liis  ease  u2')on  the  labors  of  his  deluded 
countrymen. 

"  A  fellow  of  this  description  came  to  Cumberland 
House  in  the  winter  of  1811).  The  mighty  conjnror, 
immediately  on  his  arrival  at  the  house,  began  to 
trumpet  oft'  his  powei's,  boasting,  among  other  things,' 
that  although  his  hands  and  feet  were  tied  as  securely 
as  })ossible,  yet,  when  placed  in  a  conjuring-house,  lie 
would  speedily  disengage  himself  by  the  aid  of  two 


nisa- 

.  the 

OY  to 

d  to 


l\K 


led 


i-land 
iui'or, 


lU 


to 


lun<^? 


luve 


lie 


two 


l)Jtl(iriSl;i)    IMNTKl'S. 


,:*» 


^i    I 


Wl , 


t»\ 


*,«"'•  I 


m 


m 


,/' 


Vr 


'r:\ 


M, 


H' 


m 


^Ml 


s 


Ui 

of 

an 

th( 

ou 

hy: 


*    ■■(. 


f| 

11  111 


resj 
titi, 
roil] 
rem 
colli 
take 
and 
had 
oft 
I'oiin 
und( 
"  Go 
tere( 
eter 
conti: 
half, 
had  f 
when 
preser 
lianiH, 
"Tfl 


FUAJTKLIN  S    FIRST    LAND    EXPEDITION. 


191 


or  three  familiar  spirits,  wlio  were  attendant  on  his 
call.  He  was  instantly  taken  at  his  word,  and  that 
his  exertions  might  not  be  without  an  aim,  a  cajyot  or 
great  coat  was  promised  as  the  reward  of  his  success. 

"A  conjuring-house  having  been  erected  in  the 
usual  form,  that  is,  by  sticking  four  willows  in  the 
ground,  and  tying  their  tops  to  a  hoop  at  the  height 
of  six  or  eight  fe  t,  he  was  fettered  comj^letely, 
and  placed  in  its  narrow  compartment.  A  moose  skin 
then  being  thrown  over  the  frame,  secluded  him  from 
our  view.  lie  forthwith  began  to  chant  a  kind  of 
hymn  in  a  very  monotonous  tone. 

"The  rest  of  the  Indians,  who  seemed  in  some  doubt 
respecting  the  powers  of  a  devil  when  put  in  compe- 
tition with  those  of  a  white  man,  ranged  themselves 
round,  and  watched  the  result  with  anxiety.  Nothing 
remarkable  occurred  for  a  long  time.  The  conjurer 
continued  his  song  at  intervals,  and  it  was  occasionally 
taken  up  by  those  without.  In  this  manner  an  hour 
and  a  half  elapsed ;  l)ut  at  length  our  attention,  which 
had  begun  to  flag,  was  roused  by  the  violent  shaking 
of  the  conjuring-house.  It  was  instantly  whispered 
round  the  circle,  that  at  least  one  devil  had  crept 
under  the  moose-skin.  But  it  proved  to  be  only  the 
"  Goddike  man"  trembling  with  cold.  He  had  en- 
tered the  lists,  stripped  to  the  skin,  and  the  thermom- 
eter stood  very  low  that  evening.  His  attempts  Avere 
continued,  however,  with  consideral)le  resolution  for 
half  an  hour  longer,  when  he  reluctantly  gave  in.  He 
liad  foimd  no  difficulty  in  slipping  through  the  noose 
when  it  was  formed  by  his  countrymen  ;  but,  in  the 
present  instance  the  knot  Avas  tied  by  Governor  Wil- 
liams, who  is  an  expert  sailor. 

"  These  Indians,  however  capable  they  are  of  behav- 


.  i^  f<'l 


1 " 


0\ 


r. 


If  "I, 


V  *■  IP, 


! 


i'.„  , 


192 


INDIAN    CUSTOMS. 


ing  kindly,  aifect  in  their  discourse  to  despise  the 
softer  sex,  and  on  solemn  occasions  will  not  suffer 
them  to  eat  before  them,  or  even  come  into  their 
presence.  In  this  they  are  countenanced  by  the  white 
residents,  most  of  whom  have  Indian  or  half-breed 
wives,  but  seem  afraid  of  treating  them  Avith  the  ten- 
derness or  attention  due  to  every  female,  lest  they 
should  themselves  be  despised  by  the  Indians. 

"  Both  sexes  are  fond  of,  and  very  indulgent  to  their 
children.  The  fother  never  j)unishes  them,  and  if  the 
mother,  more  hasty  in  her  temper,  sometimes  bestows 
a  blow  or  two  on  a  troubles<mie  child,  her  heart  is 
instantly  softened  by  the  roar  which  follows,  and  she 
mingles  her  tears  with  those  that  streak  the  smoky 
face  of  her  darlins:.     Tattooincj  is  almost  imiversal. 

"  A  Cree  places  great  reliance  on  his  drum,  and  I 
cannot  adduce  a  stronger  instance  than  that  of  the 
poor  man  who  is  mentioned  in  a  preceding  page,  as 
having  lost  his  only  child  by  famine,  almost  within 
sight  of  the  fort.  Notwithstanding  his  exhausted 
state,  he  had  an  enormous  drum  tied  to  his  back. 

"  It  was  not  \erj  uncommon  amongst  the  Canadian 
voyagers  for  one  woman  to  be  common  to,  and  main- 
tained at  the  joint  expense  of  two  men ;  nor  for  a 
voyager  to  sell  his  wife,  either  for  a  season  or  alto- 
gether, for  a  sum  of  money,  proportioned  to  her 
beauty  and  good  qualities,  but  always  inferior  to  the 
price  of  a  team  of  dogs. 

"  The  chiefs  among  the  Chipewyans  are  now  totally 
without  power.  The  traders,  however,  endeavor  to 
support  their  authority  by  continuing  towards  them 
the  accustomed  marks  of  respect,  hoisting  the  flag, 
and  firing  a  salute  of  musketry  on  their  entering  the 
fort. 


FRANKLIN  S    FIRST   LAND   EXPEDITION. 


193 


"  The  Northern  Indians  evince  no  little  vanity,  by 
assuming  to  themselves  the  comprehensive  title  of 
"The  Pe()[)le,"  Avhile  they  designate  all  other  nations 
by  the  name  of  their  particular  country.  They  sup- 
pose that  they  originally  sprang  from  a  dog ;  and, 
about  five  years  ago,  a  superstitious  fanatic  so  strongly 
pressed  upon  their  minds  the  impropriety  of  employ- 
ing these  animals,  to  which  they  were  related,  for 
purposes  of  labor,  that  they  universally  resolved  against 
using  them  any  more,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  de- 
stroyed them.  They  now  have  to  drag  everything 
themselves  on  sledges. 

"  This  tril)e,  since  its  present  intimate  connection 
with  the  traders,  has  discontinued  its  war  excursions 
against  the  Esquimaux,  but  they  still  speak  of  that 
nation  in  terms  of  the  most  inveterate  hatred." 

On  the  13th  of  July,  Eichardson  and  Hood  arrived 
at  Fort  Chipewyan  with  two  canoes,  and  were 
Avarinly  greeted  by  Franklin  and  Back,  who  were 
Avaiting  for  them.  Final  arrangements  were  now 
made  for  the  voyage  northward;  on  the  18th  of  July 
the  party  set  out,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Providence, 
north  of  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  on  the  20th  of  July. 

Here  the  travelers  were  visited  by  an  Indian  chief 
named  Akaitcho,  who,  with  some  of  his  men  as  hunt- 
ers and  guides,  was  to  accompany  the  expedition. 

"  As  we  were  informed  that  external  appearances 
made  lasting  impressions  upon  the  Indians,  we  pre- 
pared for  the  interview  by  decorating  ourselves  in  uni- 
form, and  suspending  a  medal  round  each  of  our  necks. 
Our  tents  had  been  previously  pitched,  and  ov^er 
one  of  them  a  silken  union  flag  was  hoisted.  Soon 
after  noon,  on  July  30th,  several  Indian  canoes  were 
seen  advancing  in  a  regular  line,  and  on  their  approach, 


194 


INl'ERVIEW    M'lTn    AKAITCIIO, 


■,|-> 


ii^i  i      i 


the  chief  was  discovered  in  the  headmost,  which  was 
paddled  by  two  men.  On  landing  at  the  fort,  the 
chief  assumed  a  very  grave  aspect,  and  walked  up  to 
Mr.  Wentzel  with  a  measured  and  dignified  step, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  at  tlie 
persons  who  had  assembled  on  the  beach  to  witness 
his  del)arkation,  but  preserving  the  same  immovability 
of  countenance  until  he  reached  the  hall,  and  was  in- 
troduced U)  the  officers.  When  he  had  smoked  his 
pipe,  drank  a  small  portion  of  spirits  and  water  him- 
self, and  issued  a  glass  to  each  of  his  companions,  who 
had  seated  themselves  on  the  floor,  he  commenced  his 
harangue,  by  mentioning  the  circumstances  that  led 
to  his  agreeing  to  accompany  the  expedition,  an  en- 
gagement which  he  was  quite  pre])ared  to  fulfill. 

"  Akaitcho  and  the  guides  having  communicated  all 
the  infomiation  they  possessed  on  the  different  points 
to  which  our  questions  had  been  directed,  I  placed 
my  medal  round  the  neck  of  the  chief,  and  the  officers 
presented  theirs  to  an  elder  brother  of  his  and  the 
two  guides.  Being  confen-ed  in  the  presence  of  all 
the  hunters,  their  acquisition  was  highly  gratifying  to 
them,  liut  they  studiously  avoided  any  great  expres- 
sion of  joy,  because  such  an  exposure  would  liave 
been  unbecoming  the  dignity  which  the  senior  Indians 
assume  during  a  conference. 

"We  presented  to  the  chief,  the  two  guides,  and. 
the  seven  hunters,  who  had  engaged  to  accompany  us, 
some  cloth,  blankets,  tobacco,  knives,  daggei-s,  besides 
other  useful  iron  matenals,  and  a  gun  to  each  ;  also  a 
keg  of  veiy  weak  spirits  and  water,  which  they  kept 
until  the  evening,  as  they  had  to  try  their  guns  before 
dark,  and  make  the  necessary  prepai-ations  for  com- 
mencing the  journey  on  the  following  day.     The  In- 


FUANKLINS   FIRST    LAND    EXPEDITION. 


195 


tlians,  however,  did  not  leave  U8  on  the  next  day,  as 
the  cliief  was  desirous  of  >)eing  present,  with  his  party, 
at  the  dance,  which  was  given  in  the  evening  to  our 
Ciinudian  voyagers.  They  were  liighly  entertained  hy 
the  vivacity  and  agility  displayed  by  our  companions 
in  tlieir  singing  and  dancing :  and  especially  ])y  their 
imitating  the  gestures  of  a  Canadian,  who  j)laced  him- 
self in  the  most  ludicrous  postures ;  and,  whenever 
this  was  done,  the  gravity  oj  the  chief  gave  way  to 
violent  bursts  of  laughter.  In  return  for  the  gratifi- 
cation Akaitcho  had  enjoyed,  he  desired  his  young 
men  to  exhil)it  the  Dog-Ilil>  Indian  dance." 

Franklin  and  his  three  companions,  with  Frederic 
"VVentzel  of  the  North-west  Co.,  John  IIe])l)urn,  >ev- 
enteen  Canadian  voyagers,  and  three  Indian  intei'pre- 
ters,  left  Fort  Providence  on  the  2d  of  August,  in 
three  canoes.  Thei'e  was  also  a  smaller  canoe  to  con- 
voy the  wives  of  three  of  the  voyagei's,  and  their  three 
children,  in  company  with  a  fleet  of  Indian  canoes 
they  paddled  up  the  Yellow  Knife  River,  toward  a 
country  ^vhicli  had  never  been  visited  by  Enr()])eans. 

"Akaitcho  caused  himself  to  be  paddled  by  his 
slave,  a  young  man,  of  the  Dog-Ril)  nation,  whom  he 
had  taken  by  force  from  his  friends ;  when  he  thought 
himself,  however,  out  of  reach  of  our  observation,  he 
laid  aside  a  good  deal  of  his  state,  and  assisted  in  the 
lal)or ;  and  after  a  few  day's  further  acquaintance 
with  us,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  paddle  in  our  presence, 
or  even  carry  his  canoe  on  the  portages." 

The  party  met  with  some  hardships,  were  at 
times  short  of  provisions,  and  some  of  the  voyagers 
showed  a  spirit  of  insubordination  ^vhich  Fi'anklin 
promptly  cpielled  by  threats  of  severest  punishment. 
Ou  the  20th  of  August   they  halted  on  the  bank  of 


»;'■■■?■ 


196 


TlfE   WINTETl    AT    FORT    ENTERPRISE. 


(  -■ 


'4i    i 


Winter  Lake,  and  built  Fort  Enterprise,  where  tliey 
passed  the  winter;  its  distance  from  Fort  Chipewyan 
was  5;J.'J  miles. 

Franklin  was  anxious  to  push  on  to  the  sea  that  fall, 
but  was  forced  t(^  reliiujuish  the  idea  from  the  rof usal 
of  Akaitcho  to  go  with  him  owing  to  scarcity  oL''game 
on  the  route. 

Oil  the  18th  of  October,  Mr.  Back  and  Mr.  "Went- 
zel,  set  out  for  Fort  Providence,  accompanicul  by  two 
voyagers,  Beaubarlant  and  Belangcr,  and  two  Indians, 
with  their  wives. 

"  On  the  2.'klof  November, Belanger returned  alone; 
he  had  walked  constantly  for  the  last  six-and-thirty 
hours,  leaving  his  Indian  comj)anions  encamped  at  the 
last  woods,  they  l)eing  unwilling  to  accompany  liiin 
across  the  barren  i^rcnnids  duriu<ji;  the  storm  tliat  had 
prevailed  for  several  days,  and  blew  with  unusual  vio- 
lence on  the  morning  of  his  arrival.  Ilis  locks  Avere 
matted  with  snow,  and  he  was  incrusted  Avith  ice  from 
head  to  foot,  so  that  we  scarcely  recognized  him  Avlien 
he  burst  in  upon  us.  We  welcomed  him  with  the 
usual  sliake  of  the  hand,  but  Avere  unable  to  give  liim 
the  glass  of  rum  Avhicli  every  voyager  receives  on  his 
arrival  at  a  trading  po  t." 

On  the  2Gth  of  October,  Akaitcho,  Avitli  his  party 
came  into  camp,  owing  to  the  deer  having  gone  south ; 
and  on  the  5th  of  NoA^ember,  fishing  luid  to  be  relin- 
quished. As  so  large  a  number  of  people;  could  not  be 
provided  for  at  the  place,  the  Indiiuis  left  again  on 
the  lOth  of  December. 

"  Keskarrah  the  guide,  Avith  his  Avife  and  daugliter 
remainetl  behind.  The  daui^hter  Avhoni  Ave  desi'Tnjv 
ted  Green-Stockings  from  her  dress,  is  considered  by 
her  tribe  to  be  a  great  beauty.     Mr.  Hood  drew  an  ac- 


FUANKLIN  S    FIRST    LAND    EXPEDITION. 


197 


curate  portrait  of  her,  altlioiigli  hor  inothor  "wum  avei*se 
to  her  Hitting  for  it.  She  was  afrai<l,  sh(!  said,  that 
'"M-  (hiiigliter'n  likeness  would  induce  the  gre;it  eliief 

iio  resided  in  En_rland  to  send  for  the  oriixinul.  The 
young  lady,  however,  was  undeterred  hy  any  such 
fear.  She  has  already  heen  an  ol)jeet  of  contest  he- 
tween  her  countrymen,  and  although  under  sixteen 
years  of  age,  has  Ixdonged  successively  to  tw(»  hus- 
bands, and  would  prohaldy  have  been  the;  wife  of 
man}'  more,  if  her  mother  had.  not  required  her  ser- 
vices as  a  nurse." 

Of  their  winter  residence  at  this  place  Franklin 
says  :— 

"The  Sal^hath  was  always  a  day  of  rest  Avith  us; 

1  Avoodmen  were  required  to  provide  for  the  I'xigeii- 
of  that  day  on  Saturday,  and  the  part}'  Avere 
dressed  in  their  best  attire.  DiA'ine  service  A\as  reg- 
ularly performed,  and  the  Canadiaus  attended,  and 
behaved  with  great  decorum,  although  tlu!y  ^vv\v,  all 
Roman  Catholics,  and  but  little  acquainted  with  the 
language  in  which  the  ])rayers  were  read. 

"  Our  diet  consisted  almost  entirely  of  the  reindeer 
meat,  varied  twice  a  week  l)y  flsli,  and  occasional!}-  by 
a  little  flour,  but  we  had  no  vegetables  of  any  descrip- 
tion. On  the  Sunday  mornings  we  drank  a  cup  of 
chocolate,  but  our  greatest  luxury  was  tea  (Avithout 
sugar),  of  which  ^ve  regularly  partook  twice  a  day. 
With  reindeer's  fat,  and  strips  of  cotton  shirts,  A\-e 
formed  candles;  and  Hepburn  acquired  cone-ideralde 
skill  in  the  manufacture  of  soap,  from  wood-ashes,  fat, 
and  salt." 

On  the  27tli  of  December,  Mr.  Wentzel  arriA-ed 
with  two  Esquimaux  interpreters  Avho  had  been  en- 
gaged.    Their   English   names  were   Augustus   and 


■   ( 


198 


RECEPTION    OF   A    CHIEF. 


t  •    <1 


;i  i":: 


ii> 


Junius.  The  former  spoke  English.  Parties  also  ar- 
rived from  time  to  time  bringing  on  the  stores  which 
had  been  left  at  Fort  Pyovidence. 

"  On  the  17th  of  March,  Mr.  Back  returned  from 
Fort  Cliipewyan,  having  traveled  since  he  started  out 
more  than  one  thousand  miles  on  foot,  with  no  shel- 
ter at  night  excepting  a  blanket  and  deer  skin,  and 
often  without  food.  The  Indians  had  sometimes  given 
him  a  fish  or  bird  which  they  caught,  with  the  remark, 
"we  are  accustomed  to  starvation,  and  you  are  not." 

"  On  the  21st  of  April,  all  our  men  returned  from 
the  Indians,  and  Akaitcho  was  on  liis  way  to  the  fort. 
In  the  afternoon  two  of  his  young  men  arrived  to  an- 
nounce his  visit,  and  to  recjuest  that  he  might  be  re- 
ceived with  a  salute  and  otlier  marks  of  respect  that 
he  had  l)een  accustomed  to  on  visiting  Fort  Providence 
in  the  Spring.  I  complied  with  his  desire  altliough  I 
regretted  the  expenditure  of  ammunition,  and  sent 
the  young  men  away  with  tlie  customary  present  of 
powder  to  enable  him  to  return  the  salute,  some  to- 
bacco, vei'milion  to  paint  their  faces,  a  comb,  and  a 
lookinLC-iijlass. 

"  At  eleven  Akaitcho  arrived ;  upon  the  first  notice 
of  his  appearance  the  flag  was  hoisted  at  the  fort,  and 
ui:)on  his  nearer  approach,  a  number  of  muskets  were 
fired  by  a  2^arty  of  our  peo])le,  and  returned  by  his 
young  men.  Akaitcho  preceded  by  liis  standard- 
bearer,  led  the  l)arty,  and  advanced  with  a  slow  and 
solemn  step  to  the  door  ^vliere  JVIr.  Wentzel  and  I  re- 
ceived him.  The  faces  of  the  party  were  daul^ed  with 
vermilion,  the  old  men  having  a  sj)ot  on  the  riglit 
cheek,  the  young  ones  on  the;  left.  Akaitcho  himself 
was  not  painted.  On  entering  he  sat  down  on  a  cliest, 
the  rest  placing   themselves  in  a  circle  on  the  floor. 


h 


franklin's  first  land  expedition. 


199 


Tlie  pipe  was  passed  once  or  twice  round,  and  in  the 
meantime  a  LoavI  of  spirits  and  water,  and  a  present 
considerable  for  our  circumstances,  of  cloth,  blankets, 
capots,  shirts,  <fec.,  was  placed  on  the  floor  for  the 
chiefs  acceptance,  and  distribution  amongst  his  peo- 
ple. Akaitcho  then  commenced  his  speech,  but  I  re- 
gret to  say,  that  it  was  very  discouraging,  and  indi- 
cated that  he  had  parted  with  lis  good  humor,  at 
least  since  his  March  visit." 

On  the  4th  of  June,  a  part  of  the  company  under 
Kichardson,  started  northward;  some  dragged  stores 
on  sledges,  and  others  can-ied  them  on  their  backs. 
Another  party  started  June  14th,  with  canoes  dragged 
by  men  and  dogs.  On  the  21st,  the  whole  expedition, 
\vith  Akaitcho  and  some  of  his  hunters,  was  encamp- 
ed at  Point  Lake.  The  Indian  families  and  the  rest 
of  the  tribe  had  gone  off  to  a  large  lake  to  spend  the 
summer,  and  Akaitcho  who  had  expended  the  am- 
munition given  to  him,  finally  admitted  that  nearly 
all  of  it  had  been  given  to  those  who  had  gone  with 
the  Indian  families;  Franklin  was  greatly  distressed  at 
this  occurrence. 

Five  hunters  were  now  sent  ahead  to  hunt ;  and  on 
the  25th  of  June  the  journey  was  resumed,  Akaitcho 
and  five  other  Indians  accompanying  the  travelers. 
On  the  29th  "  our  attention  was  directed  to  some  jiine 
branches  scattered  on  the  ice,  which  proved  to  be 
marks  placed  by  our  hunters,  to  guide  us  to  the  spot 
M'here  they  had  deposited  the  carcasses  of  two  small 
deer.  This  supply  was  very  seasonable,  and  the  men 
cheerfully  dragged  the  additional  weight." 

On  the  1st  of  July  they  embarked  on  the  Copper- 
mine Elver,  which  was  there  two  hundred  yards  wide 
and  ten  feet  deep,  and  run  very  rapidly  over  a  rocky 

3ii 


"  *i 


'■■~ »' 


t 


:  -   i*^ 


J^' 


200 


EKCOTJNTRP.   wmi  ESQUIMAUX. 


U'  !    k 


it  i 


'■'"  -I,, 


I     :'. 


:  !i    ! 


i\J<  i 


1     I, 


1    I! 


bottom.  Tliey  now  descended  the  river  to  a  place 
named  by  Ilearne,  the  Bk)ody  Falls,  in  consec^uence 
of  a  dreadful  massacre  there  of  Escjuimaiix  by  the 
Chipe^vyan  Indians.  As  it  ^vas  a  customary  resort  of 
Esquimaux,  Junius  and.  Augustus  were  sent  forward, 
armed  with  concealed  pistols,  and  with  beads,  looking 
glasses,  etc.,  to  conciliate  their  countrymen  by  pres- 
ents. They  fell  in  with  a  small  party  of  them,  who 
appeared  to  be  mild,  peaceable  creatures ;  but  they 
disappeared  in  the  night. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  just  as  the  crew  were 
putting  the  canoe  in  the  water,  Adam  arrived  in  the 
utmost  consternation,  and  informed  us  that  a  party  of 
Esquimaux  were  j^ursuing  the  men  whom  he  had  sent 
to  collect  floats.  The  orders  for  embarkino;  were  in- 
stantly  countermanded,  and  we  went  with  a  party  of 
men  to  their  rescue.  We  soon  met  our  people  return- 
ing at  a  slow  pace,  and  learned  that  they  had  come 
unawares  upon  the  Esquimaux  party,  which  consisted 
of  six  men,  witli  their  women  and  children,  who  Avere 
traveling  to^var(ls  the  raj^id  Avith  a  considerable  niun- 
ber  of  d(\gs  carrying  their  l)a^gage.  The  women 
hid  themsel\x\s  on  the  first  alarm,  but  the  men  ad- 
vanced, and  stopping  at  some  distance  from  our  men, 
began  to  dance  in  a  circle,  tossing  up  their  hands  in 
the  air  and  accompanying  their  motions  with  mucli 
shf)uting,  to  signify,  I  conceive,  their  desire  of  peace. 
Our  men  saluted  them  by  pulling  off  their  hats,  and 
making  l)o^vs,  but  neither  party  was  willing  to  ajv 
])roacli  the  other;  and,  at  length,  the  Esquimaux  re- 
tired to  the  hill,  from  whence  they  had  descended 
when  first  seen. 

*'  We  proceeded  in  the  hope  of  gaining  an  interview 
with  them,  but  lest  our  aj>pearaiice  in  a  body  should 


Uh-  i 


m ' 


''•  (^ 

Mr 

n 

m 

T    '  'J 

'f  1 

i"i"ii 

1 

K  J  ^1 

'V  1 

'■"  '.^ 

Im^-^ 

-r,  fl 

yd 

If-'''^ 

■'^ 

If  J'' 

1 

«    ■ 

P   ^'    * 

i/i 

11 

rf" 


)OT 

I 

^Im 

^ 

1  HI  J 

! 

di 

^ 

FKANKLINS    FIRST   LAND   EXPEDITION. 


201 


alarm  them,  we  advanced  in  a  long  line,  at  the  head 
of  ^vhieh  was  Augustus.  We  were  led  to  their  bag- 
gage, which  they  had  deserted,  by  the  howling  of  the 
dogs ;  and  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  we  found,  lying 
behind  a  stone,  an  old  man,  who  was  too  iniirm  to  ef- 
fect his  escape  \\'itli  the  rest.  He  was  much  terrified 
^\  hen  Augustus  advanced,  and  probably  expected  im- 
mediate death ;  but  tliat  the  fatal  blow  might  not  be 
uiirevenged,  he  saizel  his  spear,  and  made  a  thrust 
with  it  at  his  sup]>osed  enemy.  Augustus,  however, 
easily  repressed  his  feeble  eifort,  and  soon  calmed  his 
fears  by  presenting  him  with  some  pieces  of  iron,  and 
assuring  him  of  his  friendly  intentions." 

On  the  I7th,  nine  Esquimaux  appeared  on  the  bank 
of  the  river  opposite  the  encampment,  canying  their 
canoes  on  their  backs,  but  they  tied  on  seeing  the 
tents.  Not  only  were  these  people  alarmed,  but  the 
Indians  also  were  so  terrified  that  they  insisted  on  re- 
turning the  next  day ;  nor  could  Franklin  induce  even 
one  hunter  to  remain  with  him.  The  interpreters  too 
were  much  f riglitened  and  re(iuested  their  discharge ; 
but  it  was  refused,  and  they  were  closely  watched  to 
prevent  their  desertion. 

The  reduced  party  proceeded,  and  on  the  18th  of 
July  reached  the  Polar  Sea.  The  Canadians  Avere 
nuK'h  interested  at  the  first  view,  although  despondent, 
and  Hepburn,  the  English  sailor,  was  (juite  elated  at 
beholding  again  his  favorite  element. 

On  the  19th,  Mr.  Wentzel  and  four  dischai'ged  Ca- 
nadians started  on  their  return  southward.  The  party 
nc)\v  numbered  about  twenty,  who,  in  two  canoes  witli 
fifteen  day's  provisions,  embarked  21st  July,  to  navi- 
gate the  sea  to  the  eastward. 

They  proceeded  on,  along  a  dreary  coast,  making  new 


^:  fif 


M'i    i 


{ 


liK- 


m 


'0 


202 


THE    KETUKN   JOURXEY    C03DIENCED 


I 


!     Ii' 


H! 


4  'k 


\'^:,  i.i.l 


r,  1,  .- : 


i     ! 


lihl 


discoveries,  but  meeting  no  Esquimaux  from  whom 
they  had  hoped  to  get  pro\nsions,  which  were  rapidly 
diminishing.  A  few  deer  and  a  bear  were  caught,  and 
a  veiy  few  fish. 

On  the  30th  of  July  they  passed  the  mouth  of  a 
river  which  they  named  Hood.  On  the  5th  of  Au- 
gust they  reached  the  mouth  of  a  river  which  is  now 
known  as  Back,  or  Great  Fish  Kiver. 

On  the  loth  of  August  the  canoes  were  found  to  be 
in  an  unseaworthy  condition,  and  there  was  only 
three  day's  supply  of  provisions  remaining,  with  poor 
prospects  of  obtaining  more.  "  It  was  evident  that  the 
time  spent  in  exploring  the  Arctic  and  Melville  Sounds 
and  Bathurst's  Inlet,  had  precluded  the  hope  of  reach- 
ing Repulse  Bay,  which  at  the  outset  of  the  voyage 
we  had  fondly  cherished ;  and  it  was  equally  obvious 
that  as  our  distance  from  any  of  the  trading  establish- 
ments would  increase  as  we  proceeded,  the  hazardous 
traveree  across  the  barren  grounds,  which  we  should 
have  to  make,  if  compelled  to  abandon  the  canoes  up- 
on any  jiart  of  the  coast,  would  become  greater." 

The  most  eastern  land  seen  was  Point  Turn-again, 
distant  from  Coppermine  River  by  the  way  they  came 
nearly  six  hundred  miles.  The  return  journey  was 
begun  on  the  22d  of  August,  and  on  the  25th  the 
party  encamped  on  the  banks  of  Hood's  River,  at  the 
foot  of  tlie  fii*st  rapids.  "  Here  terminated  our  voyage 
on  the  Arctic  sea,  during  which  we  had  gone  over  six 
hundred  and  fifty  geographical  miles.  Our  Canadian 
voyagers  could  not  restrain  their  expressions  of  joy  at 
having  turned  their  backs  on  the  sea,  and  they  passed 
the  e\'ening  talking  over  their  past  adventures  with 
much  humor  and  no  little  exaggeration.  The  consid- 
eration that  the  most  painful,  and  certainly  the  most 


'I  :,H 


'^'  w 


fkanklin's  first  land  expedition. 


203^ 


hazardous,  part  of  tlie  journey  was  yet  to  come,  did 
not  depress  their  spirits  at  all." 

At  a  few  miles  up  Hood's  River,  it  runs  for  about 
a  mile  through  a  nan'ow  chasm,  the  walls  of  which 
are  upward  of  two  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  quite 
perpendicular.  Through  this  chasm  the  idver  precip- 
itates itself  in  two  magniiicient  falls,  close  to  each 
other.  The  large  canoes  not  being  suited  to  this  river, 
two  smaller  ones  were  constructed  out  of  their  mate- 
rials, to  be  used  -when  crossing  rivers. 

The  construction  of  the  new  canoes  detained  them 
till  the  first  of  September,  when  it  was  decided  to  make 
a  direct  line  to  the  pai*t  of  Point  Lake  opposite  the 
Spring  encampment,  distant  only  140  miles  in  a  stmight 
line  from  where  they  were.  Having  proceeded  twelve 
miles,  a  snow-storm  obliged  them  to  encamp,  and  on 
the  3d,  the  last  piece  of  pemmican  and  a  little  arrow- 
root were  distributed  for  supper. 

The  violence  of  the  storm  continued  till  the  7th ;  and 
for  several  days,  having  nothing  to  eat,  and  no  means 
of  making  a  fire,  they  remained  whole  da3's  in  bed, 
and,  with  a  temperature  of  20*^,  without  fire,  tlie 
party  weak  from  fasting,  their  garments  and  tents 
frozen  stiff  and  the  ground  covered  A\ith  three  feet  of 
snow,  their  condition  was  very  unfit  for  traveling  in 
such  a  country.  On  trying  to  proceed,  Fi'anklin  was 
seized  with  a  fainting-iit,  in  conse(iiience  of  exhaust- 
ion and  sudden  exposure  to  the  wind,  but  on  eating  a 
moreel  of  portal^le  soup  he  recovered.  One  of  the 
canoes  was  broken  to  pieces,  and  a  fire  was  made  with 
it  to  cook  the  remnant  of  portable  soup  and  arro\v- 
root ;  a  scanty  meal  after  three  days'  fasting. 

The  next  t^vo  days  the  surface  of  the  barren 
grounds  was  covered  with  large  stones,  bearing  a 


I.' '  I     i 


mv 


•!  i.ii 


204 


CllOSSIXG   A    KIVER. 


I'  ■  ''. 


J     I 


J    I. 


lichen  which  the  Canadians  call  trijw  de  roclie  or,  rock- 
tripe,  a  substance  to  Avhich  tlie  travelers  may  be  said 
to  owe  their  snfet}"  and  existence ;  without  it  they 
must  all  have  died  of  starvation. 

An  unknown  river  was  crossed  on  the  0th.  The 
canoe  being  put  into  the  Avater  was  found  very  leaky, 
but  it  was  managed  with  much  dexterity  by  St.  Ger- 
main, Adam,  and  Peltier,  who  ferried  over  one  pas- 
senger at  a  time,  causing  him  to  He  flat  in  its  bottom. 
The  next  day  a  musk-ox  was  shot.  To  skin  and  cut 
up  the  animal  Avas  the  work  of  a  few  minutes.  The 
contents  of  its  stomach  were  devoured  upon  the  spot, 
and  the  raw  intestines,  which  Avere  next  attacked, 
Avere  pronounced  by  the  most  delicate  to  be  excellent. 

On  the  13th  seA^eral  of  the  party  Avere  sick  from 
eating  rock-tripe,  and  it  Avas  then  discovered  that  the 
fishing  nets  had  been  throAvn  aAvay  l)y  some  one,  and 
that  the  floats  had  been  burned,  thus  depriving  the 
party  of  their  chief  resource  for  food. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th,  AAdiile  the  officers  AA'^ere 
assembled  round  a  small  fire,  Perrault,  one  oi  the  A'oy- 
agers,  presented  each  of  them  Avitli  a  small  piece  of 
meat,  Avhich  he  had  saved  from  his  alloAvance.  "  It 
was  received,"  s«iys  Frankliix,  "  Avith  great  thankful- 
ness, and  such  an  act  of  self-denial  and  kindness,  be- 
ing totally  unexpected  in  a  Canadian  voyager,  filled 
our  eyes  Avith  tears." 

On  the  same  day,  Franklin,  St.  GeiTnain,  and  Be- 
langer,  embai'ked  in  the  canoe  to  cross  the  river,  and 
Avhen  in  the  midst  of  it,  tlie  current  and  a  strong 
breeze  drove  the  canoe  to  the  A^ery  brink  of  a  tremen- 
dous rapid.  Belanger,  unluckily,  applied  his  paddle  to 
avert  the  danger  of  being  forced  doAvn  the  rapid;  he 
lost  his  balance,  and  the  canoe  OA-erset  in  the  midst  of 
the  rapid. 


FRANKLIN  S   FIRST   LAND    EXPEDITION. 


205 


"  We  fortunately  kept  hold  of  it,  until  we  touched 
a  rock  where  the  water  did  not  reach  higher  than  our 
waists;  here  we  kept  our  footing, notwithstanding  the 
strength  of  the  current,  until  the  water  was  emptied 
out  of  the  canoe.  Belanger  then  held  tlie  canoe  steady 
whilst  St.  Gennain  placed  nie  in  it,  and  afterwards 
embarked  himself  in  a  very  dexterous  manner.  It 
was  impossible,  however,  to  embark  Belangei",  as  the 
canoe  would  have  been  hurried  down  tlie  rapid,  the 
moment  he  should  have  raised  his  foot  from  the  rock 
on  which  he  stood.  We  were,  therefore,  compelled 
to  leave  him  in  liis  perilous  situation.  We  had  not 
gone  twenty  yards  before  the  canoe,  sti'iking  on  a  sud- 
den rock,  went  down.  Tlie  place  being  shallo^v,  we 
were  again  enabled  to  empty  it,  and  the  third  attempt 
brought  us  to  the  shoi'e. 

"In  the  mean  time  Belanger  was  suffering  extreme- 
ly, immersed  to  his  middle  in  the  centre  of  a  rapid, 
the  upper  part  of  his  body  covered  with  wet  clothes, 
exposed  in  a  temperature  not  much  above  zero,  to  a 
strong  breeze.  He  called  piteously  for  relief,  and  St. 
Germain  on  liis  retui'ii  endeavored  to  embark  him,  but 
in  vain.  The  canoe  Avas  hurried  down  the  rapid,  and 
when  he  landed  he  was  rendered  by  the  cold  incapa. 
ble  of  fui'ther  exertion,  and  Adam  attempted  to  em- 
bark Belanger,  but  found  it  im})ossible.  An  attempt 
was  next  made  to  carry  out  to  him  a  line,  made  (»f  the 
slings  of  the  men's  loads.  This  als<j  failed,  tlie  cur- 
rent acting  so  strongly  upon  it,  as  to  prevent  the  canoe 
from  steering,  and  it  was  finally  broken  and  cari-ied 
down  the  stream.  At  length,  when  Belanger's  strength 
seemed  almost  exhausted,  the  canoe  reached  him  Avith 
a  small  cord  belona-ina:  to  one  of  the  nets,  and  be  was, 
dragged  perfectly  senseless  thiuugh  the  rapid.    By 


;  I 


4^H 


f,.:;r! 


^^* 


m 
ri; 


206 


KXCIXma   ADVENTURES. 


I  '  ' 


•*'■  *■  i 


l'< 


''  i\ 


;i,: 


the  direction  of  Dr.  Ricliardaon,  lie  was  instantly 
stripped,  and  being  rolled  up  in  blanket?!,  two  men 
undressed  themselves  and  went  to  bed  with  him ;  but 
it  was  some  hours  before  he  recovered  his  Avaruith  and 
sensations. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  descril>e  my  sensations  as  I  wit- 
nessed the  various  unsuccessful  attempts  to  relieve 
Belanger.  The  distance  i)i'evented  my  seeing  distinct- 
ly what  was  going  on,  and  I  continued  pacing  ui>  and 
down  upon  tlie  rock  on  which  I  landed,  reganlless  of 
the  coldness  of  ray  drenched  and  stiifening  garments. 
The  canoe,  in  every  attempt  to  i*each  him,  was  huriied 
down  the  rapid,  and  was  lost  to  the  view  amongst  the 
rocky  islets,  with  a  rapidity  that  seemed  to  threaten 
certain  destruction  ;  once,  indeed,  I  fancied  that  I  saw 
it  overwhelmed  in  the  waves.  Such  an  event  would 
have  been  fatal  to  the  whole  party.  Separated  as  I 
was  from  my  companions,  without  gun,  ammunition, 
hatchet,  or  the  means  of  making  a  iire,  and  in  wet 
clothes,  my  doom  would  have  been  si)eedily  sealed. 
My  companions  too,  driven  to  the  necessity  of  coast- 
ing the  lake,  must  have  sunk  under  the  fatigue  of 
rounding  its  innumerable  arms  and  bays,  which,  as 
we  have  learned  from  the  Indians,  are  very  extensive. 
By  the  gotnlness  of  Providence,  however,  Ave  were 
spared  at  that  time,  and  some  of  us  have  been  permit- 
ted to  oifer  up  our  thanksgivings,  in  a  civilized  land, 
for  the  signal  deliverances  we  then  and  afterward  ex- 
perienced. 

"  On  the  20th  we  got  into  a  hilly  country,  and  the 
marching  became  much  more  laborious.  Mr.  Hood 
was  particularly  Aveak,  and  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
his  station  of  second  in  the  line,  Avhich  Dr.  Richard- 
son now  took,  to  direct  the  leading  man  in  keeping 


franklin's  first  land  expedition. 


2or 


'  m 


the  appointed  course.  I  was  also  unable  to  keep  pace 
with  tlie  men,  wlio  put  forth  their  utmost  speed,  en- 
couraged by  the  hope,  which  our  reckoning  had  led  us 
to  form,  of  seeing  Point  Lake  in  the  evening,  l)ut  we 
were  obliged  to  encamp  without  gaining  a  view  of  it." 

On  the  22d  they  came  to  a  lai'ge  lake  and  ft)llowe<l 
its  coast  southerly.  As  the  wind  was  strong  it  was 
difficult  to  carry  the  canoe  over  the  hills,  and  it  got 
several  falls,  and  Peltier  and  Vaillant,  Avho  were  cany- 
ing  it,  finally  left  it  behind.  "The  anguish  this 
intelligence  occasioned  may  be  conceived,  but  it  is  be- 
yoiul  my  power  to  desci'ibe  it.  Impressed,  however, 
with  the  necessity  of  taking  it  forward,  even  in  the 
state  these  men  represented  it  to  be,  we  urgently  de- 
sired them  to  fetch  it ;  but  they  declined  going,  and 
the  strength  of  the  officei-s  was  inadequate  to  the  task. 
To  their  infatuated  obstinacy  on  this  occasion,  a 
great  portion  of  the  melancholy  circumstances  Avhich 
attended  our  subsequent  progress  may,  perhaps,  be  at- 
tributed. The  men  now  seemed  lost  to  all  hoj^e  of 
being  preserved ;  and  all  the  arguments  we  could  use 
failed  in  stimulating  them  to  the  least  exertion. 

"After  consuming  the  remains  of  the  ])onesand  horns 
of  the  deer  we  resumed  our  march,  and  in  the  eve- 
ning reached  a  contracted  part  of  the  lake,  which  per- 
ceiving to  be  shallow,  we  forded  and  encani[)ed  on 
the  o[)posite  side.  Heavy  rain  began  soon  afterwards, 
and  continued  all  the  night.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing the  rain  had  so  waste*!,  the  snow,  that  the  tracks 
of  Mr.  Back  and  his  con:  i  is,  who  had  gone  before 
with  the  hunters,  were  traced  with  difficulty ;  and  the 
frequent  showers  during  the  day  almost  obliterated 
them.  The  men  became  furious  at  the  appreliension 
of  being  deserted  by  the  hunters,  and  some  of  the 


i*' 


'}:i 


{■■■ 


l'<    II  • 


( i 


'I   'i 


*  'It 


IIm* 


w 


208 


ATTEMPra   TO   OROSa   THE   COPPERMINE. 


strongest  throwing  down  their  bundles,  jn-epared  to 
set  out  after  them,  intending  to  leave  the  more  weak 
to  follow  as  they  could.  The  entreaties  and  threats 
of  the  officers,  however,  prevented  their  executing 
this  mad  scheme ;  hut  not  before  Solomon  Belanger 
was  deH})atched  with  orders  for  ]Mr.  Back  to  halt  until 
we  should  join  him.  The  bounty  of  Pi'ovidence  Avas 
most  fc;eas()nably  manifested  to  us  next  morning,  in 
our  killing  five  small  deer  out  of  a  herd,  which  came 
in  sight  as  we  were  on  the  point  of  starting.  This 
unexpected  supply  reanimated  the  drooping  si)irits  of 
our  men  and  filled  -every  heart  with  gratitude." 

On  the  2Gth  of  September  they  reached  the  Copper- 
mine Eiver ;  and  now  for  the  first  time  the  men  saw 
their  folly  in  refusing  to  bring  the  canoe.  In  hopes 
of  finding  some  material  for  building  a  raft,  they  pro- 
ceeded along  the  river  to  the  east  end  of  Point  Lake 
where  they  encamped.  Here  Mr.  Back  and  the  inter- 
preters were  sent  f  onvard  to  hunt,  and  to  communicate 
with  the  IndiaiiB  supposed  to  be  at  Fort  Enterprise. 
The  balance  of  the  party  started  the  same  day  in  a 
straggling  and  des];)ondent  mood.  The  putrid  carcass 
of  a  deer  which  they  found,  furnished  a  supper  and 
gfeatly  revived  the  spirits  of  all,  and  they  concluded 
to  try  and  get  across  on  a  raft  of  green  willows,  and 
made  one  capable  of  holding  up  one  man  at  a  time. 

"  At  this  time  Dr.  Richardson,  prompted  by  a  desire 
of  relieving  his  suffering  companions,  proposed  to 
swim  across  the  stream  wdth  a  line,  and  to  haul  the 
raft  over.  He  launched  into  the  stream  with  the  line 
round  his  middle,  but  when  he  had  got  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  bank,  his  amis  became  benumbed  with 
cold,  and  he  lost  the  power  of  moving  them ;  still  he 
persevered,  and  turning  on  his  back,  had  nearly  gained 


FRANKLINS    FMWT    LAND    KXIMODITION. 


209 


the  opposite  bank,  when  his  h»gs  also  becjimo  power- 
h'SH,  and  to  our  infinite  ahirni  we  behehl  liim  sink. 
AVu  instantly  lianled  upon  the  line  and  he  came  a^ain 
on  the  sui"face,  and  was  gi'adually  drawn  ashoiv  in  an 
almost  lifeless  state.  Being  rolled  up  in  hliinkets,  he 
was  placed  l)efore  a  good  iire  of  willows,  nnd  fortu- 
nately was  just  able  to  speak  sufficiently  to  give  some 
slight  directions  inspecting  the  manner  of  treating 
liim.  He  recovered  strength  gradually,  and  by  the 
blcssinj?  of  God  was  enabled  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours  to  converse,  and  by  the  evening  was  suihciently 
recovered  to  remove  into  the  tent.  We  then  regretted 
to  learn,  that  the  skin  of  his  whole  left  side  was 
depriv  'd  of  feeling  in  consecjuence  of  exposure  to  too 
great  heat.  He  did  not  pei-fectly  recover  tl:e  sensa- 
tion of  that  side  until  the  following  summer." 

On  the  1st  of  October,  Back  and  the  interpreters 
returned,  having  been  unable  to  cross  the  water.  As 
the  willow  canoe  was  impracticable,  St.  Germain  pro- 
posed to  build  one  of  some  painted  canvas,  and  men 
were  sent  oflt'  to  collect  pitch  from  some  small  j)ines 
"which  had  been  passed  on  the  journey. 

"On  the followino;  mornino;  the  o-i-oxnul  was-,  covered 
Avith  snow  to  the  depth  of  a  foot  and  a  half,  and  the 

"ti*'  was  very  stormy.  These  circumstances  ren- 
'le  men  again  extremely  despondent ;  a  settled 
'looi  .lung  over  their  countenances,  and  they  refused 
u)  pick  tripe  de  roclie,  choosing  rather  to  go  entirely 
without  eating,  than  to  make  any  exertion.  Tlie 
party  which  w»  ^  for  gum  returned  early  in  the  morn- 
ing without  h.'i  ig  found  any ;  but  St.  Germain  said 
he  could  stiP  ke  the  canoe  with  the  willows  cover- 
ed with  the  t  vas,  and  removed  with  Adam  to  a 
clump  of  willo    3  for  that  pfirpose.     Mr.  Back  accom- 


r  ! 


:\ 


I'  I 


!;H 


m 


S0i 


i^^VV, 


-■■ml 


'■■  N.;l 


nil  '**" 

if  I 


^h'. 


i  14 


210 


BUILDING   A   CANOE. 


panied  them  to  stimulate  his  exertion,  as  we  feared 
the  lowness  of  his  spirits  would  cause  him  to  be  slow 
in  his  operations.  Augustus  went  to  fish  at  the  rapid, 
but  a  large  trout  having  carried  away  his  bait,  we  had 
nothing  to  replace  it. 

"  The  snow-storm  continued  all  the  night,  and  dur- 
ing the  forenoon  of  the  3d.  Having  persuaded  the 
people  to  gather  some  tripe  de  roclie^  I  partook  of  a 
meal  with  them ;  and  afterwards  set  out  with  the  in- 
tention of  going  to  St.  Germain  to  hasten  his  opera- 
tions, but  though  he  was  only  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
distant,  I  spent  vhree  hours  in  a  vain  attempt  to  reach 
him,  my  strength  being  unequal  to  the  labor  of  wad- 
ing through  the  deep  snow ;  and  I  returned  quite  ex- 
hausted, and  much  shaken  by  the  numerous  falls  I 
had  got.  My  associates  were  all  in  the  same  debilita- 
ted state,  and  poor  Hood  was  reduced  to  a  perfect 
shadow,  from  the  severe  bowel  complaints  which  the 
trii^e  de  roche  never  failed  to  give  him.  Back  was  so 
feeble  as  to  require  the  support  of  a  stick  in  walking ; 
and  Dr.  Richardson  had  lameness  superadded  to  weak- 
ness. The  voyagers  were  somewhat  stronger  than 
ourselves,  but  more  indisposed  to  exertion,  on  account 
of  their  despondency.  The  sensation  of  hunger  was 
no  longer  felt  by  any  of  us,  yet  we  were  scarcely  able 
to  converse  upon  any  other  subject  than  the  pleasures 
of  eating.  Hepburn,  on  the  contrary,  animated  by  a 
firm  reliance  on  the  beneficence  of  the  Supreme  Being, 
tempered  Avith  resignation  to  his  will,  was  indefatiga- 
ble in  his  exerti'/us  to  serve  us,  and  daily  collected  all 
the  tripe  de  roche  that  was  used  in  the  officers'  mess. 

"  Oct.  4. — The  canoe  being  finished,  it  Avas  brought 
to  the  encampmen r,  and  the  whole  i>arty  being  assem- 
bled in  anxious  expectation  on  the  beach,  St.  Germain 


FRANKLIN  S   FIRST   LAND   EXPEDITION. 


211 


embarked,  and  amidst  our  prayers  for  his  success,  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  opposite  shore.  The  canoe 
was  then  drawn  back  again,  and  another  person  trans- 
ported, and  in  this  manner,  by  drawing  it  backwards 
and  forwards,  they  were  all  conveyed  over  without 
any  serious  accident. 

"  That  no  time  might  be  lost  in  procuring  I'elief,  I 
immediately  despatched  Mr.  Back  with  St.  Germain, 
Solomon  Belanger,  and  Beauparlant,  to  search  for  the 
Indians,  directing  him  to  go  to  Foi-t  Enterprise,  where 
we  expected  they  would  be,  or  where,  fit  least,  a  note 
from  Mr.  Wentzel  would  be  found  to  direct  us  in  our 
search  for  them.  If  St.  Germain  should  kill  any  ani- 
mals on  his  way,  a  portion  of  the  meat  was  to  be  put 
up  securely  for  us,  and  conspicuous  marks  placed  over 
it. 

"It  is  impossible  to  imagine  a  more  gratifying 
change  than  was  produced  in  our  voyagers  after  we 
were  all  safely  landed  on  the  southern  banks  of  the 
river.  Their  spirits  immediately  revived,  each  of  them 
shook  the  officers  cordially  by  the  hand,  and  declared 
they  now  considered  the  worst  of  their  difficulties 
over,  as  they  did  not  doubt  of  reaching  Fort  Enter- 
prise in  a  few  days,  even  in  their  feeble  condition. 

"Our  advance  from  the  depth  of  the  snow  was 
slow.  Mr.  Hood,  who  was  now  very  feeble,  and  Dr. 
Richardson,  who  attached  himself  to  him,  walked 
together  at  a  gentle  pace  in  the  real'  of  the  party.  I 
kept  with  the  foremost  men,  to  cause  them  to  halt 
occasionally,  until  the  stragglers  came  up.  We  had  a 
small  quantity  of  this  tripe  de  roclie  in  the  evening, 
and  the  rest  of  our  supper  was  made  up  of  scraps  of 
roasted  leather." 

About  this  time  two  of  the  men,  Credit  and  Vail- 


'■■■ '     ?.WI 

'"1  ini 


M,  v  V 


212 


SEPARATI02f    OF    THE    COMPAJTY. 


f:   -j 


!    I 


•1 


'  m 


?.  ! 


isr 


I*-" 


lant,  gave  out,  and  were  reported  to  be  a  mile  behind, 
in  the  snow.  Dr.  Kichardson  went  back  and  found 
Vaillant  much  exhausted  \Nitli  coTd  and  hunger,  but 
was  obliged  to  leave  him.  J.  B.  Belanger  then  went 
to  his  aid  and  brcmght  on  his  burden,  but  could  not 
arouse  him,  and  neither  he  nor  Vaillant  Avere  seen 
afterwards.  Junius,  too,  had  left  some  days  before  to 
hunt,  and  never  returned.  Tlie  men  we^'e  unable  to 
carry  tlieir  loads  further,  and,  to  relieve  tliem  and  be 
in  condition  to  assist  any  who  might  give  out,  Mr. 
Hood  and  Dr.  Richardson  proposed  to  remain  behind. 

"  The  weather  was  mild  next  morning.  AV^e  left  the 
encampment  at  nine,  and  a  little  befi)re  noon  came  to 
a  pretty  extensive  thicket  of  small  willows,  near  which 
there  appeared  a  supply  of  trtpe  de  rocJte  on  the  face 
of  the  rocks.  At  this  place  Dr.  Richardson  and  ]\[r. 
Hood  determined  to  remain,  ^vith  John  Hei)burn,  wlio 
volunteered  to  stop  with  tliem.  The  tent  Avas  securely 
pitched,  a  few  willows  collected,  and  the  ammunition 
and  all  other  articles  were  deposited,  except  each 
man's  clothing,  one  tent,  a  sufficiency  of  anununition 
for  the  journey,  and  the  officer's  Journals.  I  had  only 
one  blanket,  which  was  carried  for  me,  and  two  pair 
of  shoes.  The  offer  was  now  made  for  any  of  the 
men,  who  felt  themselves  too  weak  to  proceed,  to  re- 
main with  the  officers,  but  none  of  them  accepted  it. 
Michel  alone  felt  some  inclination  to  do  so.  After 
we  had  united  in  tlianksgiving  and  prayers  to  Almighty 
God,  I  separated  from  my  comi)anions."  Tliis  part- 
ing took  i)lace  on  the  7th  of  October,  at  a  distance  of 
about  twenty-f(nir  miles  from  Fort  Enterprise. 

"Descendinn;  afterwards  into  a  more  level  countrv, 
we  found  the  snow  very  deep,  and  the  labor  of  Vs"m\- 
ing  through  it  so  fatigued  the  whole  party,  that  we 


FRANKLIN  8    FIRST   LAND   EXPEDITION. 


213 


were  comjDelled  to  encamp,  after  a  march  of  four 
miles  and  a  lialf.  Belanger  and  Michel  were  left  far 
behind,  and  when  they  arrived  at  the  encampment 
appeared  quite  exhausted.  The  former,  bursting  into 
tears,  declared  his  inability  to  proceed  with  the  pa^'ty, 
and  begged  me  to  let.  him  go  back  next  morning  to 
the  tent,  and  ehoi-tly  afterwards  Michel  made  the 
same  recpiest.  Kot  Tjeing  able  to  find  any  trijye  de 
roche,  we  drank  an  infusion  of  the  Labrador  tea  plant, 
and  ate  a  few  morsels  of  burnt  leather  for  supper. 
We  were  unal)le  to  raise  the  tent,  and  found  its  weight 
too  great  to  cany  it  on  ;  we,  therefore,  cut  it  ^^p,  and 
took  a  paii;  of  the  canvas  for  a  cover.  The  night 
was  bitterly  cold,  and  though  we  lay  as  close  to  each 
other  as  possible,  having  no  shelter,  we  could  not  keep 
ourselves  sufficiently  warm  to  sleep.  A  strong  gale 
came  on  after  midnight,  which  increased  the  severity 
of  the  weather." 

In  the  morning  Belanger  and  Michel  were  pennit- 
ted  to  go  back,  and  Avere  left  sitting  in  the  encamp- 
ment. Soon  afterward  tAvo  of  the  other  men  Perrault 
and  Fontano,  were  seized  with  dizziness  and  betrayed 
sym[)toms  of  extreme  debility ;  one  of  them,  bursting 
into  tears,  declared  his  inalnlity  to  go  on,  and  the  other, 
tlie  next  day,  was  completely  exhausted ;  each,  at  his 
own  request,  was  permitted  to  return  to  Dr.  Richard- 
sou's  encampment,  where  fire  and  rock-tripe  Avere  to 
be  obtained.  Only  one  of  them,  however,  (]\Iichel, 
the  Iro(|U(us,)  arrived;  the  other  three  were  nev- 
er heard  of ;  and  fortunate  indeed  would  it  liave  been  if 
the  survivor  had  perished  Avith  the  rest.  Fontano 
Avas  an  Italian,  a  faithful  man,  for  Avhom  Franklin 
had  a  tender  ref^ard. 

The  party,  now  reduced  to  five,  Augiistiis  having 


■\r 


214 


A  DESERTED   FORT. 


;•»  ■ 


gone  ahead,  continued  the  journey  with  no  alleviation 
of  their  sufferings,  excepting  the  comfort  one  day  of 
a  large  fire — the  first  deserving  the  name  since  leaving 
the  coast.  Ha\nng  no  rock-tripe  they  drank  some  tea 
and  ate  some  of  their  shoes  for  supper. 

"At  length  we  reached  Fort  Enterpiise,  and  to  our  in- 
finite disappointment  found  it  a  perfectly  desolate  hab- 
itation. There  was  no  deposit  of  provision,  no  trace 
of  the  Indians,  no  letter  from  Mr.  Wentzel  to  point 
out  where  the  Indians  might  be  found.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  me  to  describe  our  sensations  after  en- 
tering this  miserable  abode,  and  discovering  how  we 
had  been  neglected ;  the  whole  party  shed  tears,  not 
so  much  for  our  own  fate,  as  for  that  of  our  friends  in 
the  rear,  whose  lives  depended  entirely  on  our  send- 
ing immediate  relief  from  this  place. 

"  I  found  a  note,  however,  from  Mr.  Back,  stating 
that  he  had  reached  the  house  two  days  ago,  and  was 
going  in  search  of  the  Indians,  at  a  place  where  St. 
Germain  deemed  it  probable  they  might  be  found.  If 
he  was  unsuccessful,  he  purposed  walking  to  Fort 
Providence,  and  sending  succor  from  thence. 

"We  now  looked  round  for  the  means  of  subsistence, 
and  were  gratified  to  find  sevei'al  deer  skins,  which 
had  been  thrown  away  during  our  former  residence. 
The  bones  were  gathered  from  the  h*^ap  of  ashes ;  these 
with  the  skins,  and  the  addition  ot  'ripe  de  rocli^,  Ave 
considered  would  support  us  tolerably  well  for  a  time. 
We  procured  fuel  by  pulling  up  the  flooring  of  tlie 
other  rooms,  and  water  for  the  purpose  of  cooking  by 
melting  the  snow.  Whilst  we  were  seated  round  tlie 
fire  singeing  the  deer  skin  for  supper,  we  were  rejoiced 
by  the  unexpected  entrance  of  Augustus.  He  had 
followed  quite  a  different  course  from  ours. 


PEANKLIN  8    FIEST   LAKD   EXPEDITION. 


215 


"In  the  afternoon  of  the  14tli,  Belanger  arrived 
with  a  note  from  Mr.  Back,  stating  that  he  had  seen  no 
traces  of  the  Indians,  and  desiring  fiirtlier  instructions 
as  to  the  course  he  should  pursue.  Belanger's  situa- 
tion, however,  required  our  first  care,  as  he  came  in  al- 
most speechless,  and  covered  with  ice,  having  fallen 
into  a  rapid,  and  for  the  third  time  since  we  left  the 
coast,  narrowly  escaped  drowning."  Franklin  decided 
to  start  for  Fort  Providence,  and  sent  hy  Belanger 
directions  to  Back  to  meet  him  at  l-iainl)ow  Lake ;  hut 
one  of  the  men,  Adam,  became  unahle  to  travel,  and 
leaving  Peltier  and  Samandre  behind  with  him,  the 
oilier  three  started  ofi.  alone. 

"  No  language  that  I  can  use  could  adetpiately  de- 
scribe the  parting  scene.  I  shall  only  say  there  was 
far  more  calmness  and  resignation  to  the  Divine  Avill 
evinced  by  every  one  than  could  have  been  expected. 
We  were  all  cheered  by  the  hope  that  the  Indians 
would  be  found  by  the  one  X^^'^^'^y?  ^^^'■^  relief  sent  to 
the  other.  Those  ^vho  remained  entreated  us  to  make 
all  the  haste  we  could." 

Franklin  w\is  unable  to  keep  up  Avith  his  compan- 
ions, and  leaving  them  to  go  on  alone,  returned  to  the 
house,  where  he  fonnd  the  men  much  dis])irited  and 
failino;,  two  of  them  beinc:  unable  to  leave  their  beds. 

"  AVe  perceived  our  strength  decline  every  day,  and 
every  exertion  began  to  be  irksome ;  when  we  were 
once  seated  tlie  greatest  effort  was  necessary  in  order 
to  rise,  and  Ave  hud  f recpiently  to  lift  each  other  from 
our  seats  ;  Imt  even  in  this  pitial)le  condition  we  C(m- 
versed  clieerfully,  being  sanguine  as  to  the  speedy  ar- 
rival of  tlie  Indians.  Having  expended  all  the  wood 
wliich  Ave  couhl    jn'ocure  from  our   present  dwelling, 

witliout  endanu-erimj:  its  fallinu:,  Peltier  bec^an  this 

18 


,!)- 


■it  *         f  1  - 


¥  ■  y^ 


216 


STARVATION   LIFE  AT   FOKT   ENTERPKISE. 


H  3 


'*'■  •), 


>  1 


',  'i\"<i 


S^^ 


''  i 


day   to  pull  down   the    partitions  of   the  adjoining 
houses. 

"  On  the  20th,  Peltier  felt  his  pains  more  severe  and 
could  only  cut  a  few  pieces  of  wood.  Saniaudre,  who 
was  still  almost  as  weak,  relieved  him  a  little  time, 
and  I  assisted  them  in  carrying  in  the  ^vood.  AVe 
saw  a  herd  of  reindeer  sporting  on  the  river,  about 
half  a  mile  from  the  house ;  they  remained  there  a 
considerable  time,  but  none  of  the  party  felt  them- 
selves sufficiently  strong  to  go  after  them,  nor  was 
there  one  of  us  who  could  have  fired  a  gun  "without 
restinoj  it. 

"  Whilst  Ave  were  seated  round  the  fire  this  evenincr, 
discoursing  about  the  anticii:)ated  relief,  the  conversa- 
tion was  suddenly  interrupted  by  Peltier's  exclaiming 
with  joy,  ^^Ahf  le  momle  !  "  imagining  that  he  heard 
the  Indians  in  the  other  room ;  immediately  after- 
wards, to  his  bitter  disai)i")ointment,  Dr.  llichardson 
and  Hepburn  entered,  each  carrying  his  bundle.  Pel- 
tie]',  however,  soon  recovered  himself  enougli  to  express 
his  joy  at  their  safe  arrival,  and  his  regret  that  their 
companions  were  not  with  them.  When  I  saw  tlieni 
alone  my  own  mind  was  instantly  filled  Avith  appre- 
hensions respecting  my  friend  Hood,  and  our  otlier 
companions,  which  were  immediately  confirmed  by  the 
Doctor's  melancholy  communication,  that  Mr.  Hood, 
and  Michel  were  dead.  Perrault  and  Fontano  liacl 
neither  reached  the  tent  nor  been  heard  of  by  tliem. 

"Hepburn  having  shot  a  partridge,  which  was 
brought  to  the  house,  the  Doctor  tore  out  the  feathers, 
and  havinsr  held  it  to  the  fire  a  few  minutes,  divided  it 
into  seven  portions.  Each  piece  was  ravenously  de- 
voured by  my  companions,  as  it  was  the  first  morsel 
of  flesh  any  of  us  had  tasted  for  thirty-one  days,  un- 


FRANKLIN  S    FHIST    LAND    EXl'EDITION. 


217 


less  indeed  the  small  gristly  particles  whicli  we  found 
occasionally  adhering  to  the  pounded  bones  may  he 
termed  flesh.  Our  spiiits  were  revived  hy  this  small 
sui)ply,  and  the  Doctor  endeavored  to  raise  them  still 
higher  by  the  j^i'ospect  of  Hepburn's  being  able  to 
kill  a  deer  next  day,  as  they  had  seen,  and  even  fired 
at,  several  near  the  lumse.  Having  brought  his  pray- 
er-l)0(^lv  and  Testament,  some  j^i'^yers  and  j)salms,  and 
portions  oi  scrii)ture,  appropriate  to  our  situation, 
were  i-ead,  and  we  retired  to  bed. 

"  Next  morning  the  Doctor  and  Hepburn  went  out 
early  in  search  of  deer ;  but,  though  they  saw  seve- 
ral herds  and  flred  some  shots,  they  were  not  so  for- 
tunate as  to  kill  any,  lieing  too  weak  to  hold  their 
guns  steadily.  The  cold  compelled  the  former  to 
return  soon,  but  Hepburn  2)ersisted  until  late  in  the 


eveinng. 


"  After  our  usual  sujiper  of  singed  skin  ami  bone 
soup,  Dr.  Richardson  acquainted  me  with  tlie  afflict- 
ing circumstances  attending  the  death  of  Mr.  Hood 
and  Michel  and  detailed  occurrences  subsequent  which 
I  shall  give  from  his  Journal  in  his  oAvn  -words." 


»•■■■;. 


'^im 


''*( ' ',  ■ 


it-  ■ '" 


J*!  I 


4i^ 


tU 


ml 


F  i 


■fl'».' 


.•11 


Ml: 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FEAKK:Lm'S  FIRST  LAND  EXPEDITION. 

(continued.) 

DE.  Richardson's  narrative. 

"  After  Captain  Franklin  had  bidden  us  farewell, 
we  remained  seated  by  the  fireside  as  long  as  the 
willows,  the  men  had  cut  for  us  before  they  departed, 
lasted.  We  had  no  tripe  de  roche  that  day,  but  drank 
an  infusion  of  the  country  tea-plant,  which  was  grate- 
ful fi-om  its  warmth,  although  it  afforded  no  suste- 
nance. We  then  retired  to  bed,  where  we  remained 
all  the  next  day,  as  the  weather  was  stormy,  and  the 
snow-drift  so  heavy,  as  to  destroy  every  prosj^ect  of 
success  in  our  endeavors  to  light  a  fire  Avith  the  green 
and  frozen  willows,  which  were  our  only  fuel.  Throiigli 
the  extreme  kindness  and  forethought  of  a  lady,  the 
party,  previous  to  leaving  London,  had  been  furnished 
with  a  small  collection  of  religious  books,  of  which  we 
still  retained  two  or  three  of  the  most  portable,  and 
they  proved  of  incalculable  benefit  to  us.  We  read 
portions  of  them  to  each  other  as  we  lay  in  bed,  in 
addition  to  the  morning  and  evening  service,  and  found 
that  they  inspired  us  on  each  perusal  with  so  strong  a 
sense  of  the  omnipresence  of  a  beneficent  God,  that 
our  situation,  even  in  these  wilds,  appeared  no  longer 
destitute ;  and  we  conversed,  not  only  with  calmness, 

218 


-li  ••■.,. 


FRANKLIN  8   FIRST   LAJTD   EXPEDITION. 


219 


bnt  with  cheei*fulne8s,  detailing,  with  unrestrained 
confidence  the  past  events  of  our  lives,  and  dwelling 
witli  hoi)e  on  our  fnture  prospects.  Had  my  2)oor 
friend  Leen  spared  to  revisit  his  native  land,  I  should 
look  back  to  this  period  Avith  unalloyed  delight. 

"On  the  morning  of  October  9th,  the  weather, 
although  still  cold,  Avas  clear,  and  I  went  out  in  quest 
of  ti'ijye  He  roclw,  leaving  Hepburn  to  cut  willows  foi* 
a  fire,  and  Mr.  Hood  in  bed.  I  had  no  success,  as 
yesterday's  snow  drift  was  so  frozen  on  the  surface  of 
the  rocks  that  I  could  not  collect  any  of  the  weed ; 
but,  on  my  return  to  the  tent,  I  found  that  Michel, 
the  Iroquois,  had  come  Avith  a  note  from  Mr.  Franklin, 
Michel  informed  us  that  he  quitted  Mr.  Franklin's 
party  yesterday  morning,  but,  that  having  missed  his 
way,  he  had  passed  the  night  on  the  snow  a  mile  or 
two  to  the  nortliAvard  of  us.  Belanger,  he  said,  being 
impatient,  had  left  the  fire  about  two  hours'  earlier, 
and  as  he  had  not  arrived,  he  supposed  he  had  gone 
astray.  It  Avill  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  that  Ave  had 
more  than  sufficient  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  this 
story, 

"  Michel  now  produced  a  hare  and  a  partridge  AAdiich 
lie  had  killed  in  the  morning.  This  unexpected  sup- 
ply  of  proA'ision  Avas  received  by  us  Avith  a  deep  sense 
of  gratitude  to  the  Almighty  for  his  goodness,  and  Ave 
looked  upon  Michel  as  the  instrument  he  had  chosen 
to  preserve  all  our  Ha^cs.  He  complained  of  cold,  and 
Mr.  Hood  offered  to  share  his  buffalo  robe  Avith  him 
at  night :  I  gave  him  one  of  tAVO  shirts  Avhich  I  Avoi-e, 
wliikt  Hepburn,  in  the  Avarmth  of  his  heart,  exclaimed, 
'IIoAv  I  shall  love  this  man  if  I  find  that  he  does  not 
tell  lies  like  the  others.'  Our  meals  being  finished, 
We  arranged  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  things  should 


SH 


'■     \( 


.1''*  jr 


'm 


:[A 


l^ 


i  ^ 


'If" 


Ijl"'  'il 


'■l<-i1 


220 


DR.    RICITARDSON's   NARRATIVE. 


he  canied  to  the  pines  tlie  next  day ;  and  after  reading 
the  evening  service,  retired  to  bed  full  of  hope. 

"  Early  in  tlie  morning  Ilephurn,  Michel,  and  my- 
self, carried  the  ammunition,  and  nuxst  of  the  other 
heavy  articles  to  the  pines.  Michel  was  our  guide, 
and  it  did  not  occur  to  us  at  the  time  that  his  con- 
ducting us  pei'fectly  straight  was  inc()m2)atil)le  with 
his  story  of  having  gone  astray  on  his  way  to  us.  lie 
now  infoi'med  us  that  he  had,  on  his  way  to  the  tent, 
left  on  the  hill  above  the  pines  a  gun  and  forty-eight 
balls,  which  Perrault  had  given  him  when  with  the 
rest  of  Mr.  Franklin's  party,  he  took  leave  of  him. 
It  will  be  seen,  on  a  reference  to  Mr.  Franklin's  jour- 
nal, that  Perrault  carried  his  gun  and  anununition 
with  him  Avhen  they  parted  from  Michel  and  Belan- 
ger.  After  we  had  made  a  fire,  and  drank  a  little  of 
the  country  tea,  Hepburn  and  I  returned  to  the  tent, 
where  we  arrived  in  the  evening,  much  exhausted  with 
our  journey.  Michel  preferred  sleeping  where  he  was, 
and  requested  us  to  leave  him  the  hatchet,  which  we 
did,  after  he  had  promised  to  come  early  in  the  morn- 
ing to  assist  us  in  carrying  the  tent  and  bedding. 
Mr.  Hood  remained  in  bed  all  day.  Seeing  nothing 
of  Belanger  to-day,  we  gave  him  up  for  lost. 

"On  the  11th,  after  waiting  until  late  in  the  morn- 
ing for  Michel,  who  did  not  come,  Hepburn  and  I 
loaded  ourselves  with  the  bedding,  and  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Hood,  set  out  for  the  pines.  Mr.  Hood  was 
much  aifected  with  dimness  of  sight,  giddiness,  and 
other  symptoms  of  extreme  debility,  which  caused  'is 
to  move  very  slow,  and  to  make  fi'equent  halts.  L  a 
arriving  at  the  pines,  we  were  much  alarmed  to  find 
that  Michel  was  absent.  We  feared  that  he  had  lost 
his  way  in  coming  to  us  in  the  morning,  although  it 


fkanklin's  rnisT  land  expeditiojt. 


221 


■\viis  iK^t  easy  to  conjecture  lunv  tluit  could  have  liap- 
pened,  as  our  footsteps  of  yesterday  were  A'ery  distinct. 
llcp])urn  went  ])ack  iov  tlie  tent,  and  returned  wltli  it 
after  dusk,  conq)letely  worn  out  wit!)  tlie  fatigue  of 
t]ie  day.  Midiel,  too,  arrived  at  tlie  same  time,  and 
relieved  our  anxiety  on  liis  account.  lie  reported  tliat 
lie  had  been  in  chase  of  some  deer  which  2>Hssed  near 
his  sleeping-place  in  the  morning,  and  although  he  did 
not  come  up  with  them,  yet  that  he  found  a  Avcdf 
which  had  heen  killed  hy  the  stroke  of  a  deer's  horn, 
and  had  l)rought  a  part  of  It.  We  implicitly  helieved 
tliis  story  then,  hut  afterwards  hecame  convinced  from 
circumstances,  the  detail  of  Avlilch  may  he  spared,  that 
it  nuist  have  been  a  portion  of  the  body  of  Belanger 
or  Perrault. 

"A  question  of  moment  liere  presents  Itself;  name- 
ly, whether  he  actually  murdered  these  men,  or  either 
of  them,  or  whether  he  found  the  bodies  on  the  snow. 
Captain  Franklin  conjectures,  that  ]Michel  having 
already  destroj'ed  Belanger,  completed  his  crime  by 
Perrault's  death,  In  order  to  screen  himself  from  detec- 
tion. 

"On  the  following  morning  the  tent  was  2^i^^l'^t^> 
and  Michel  went  out  early,  refused  my  offer  to  accom- 
pany him,  and  remained  out  the  whole  day.  He 
would  not  sleep  In  the  tent  that  night,  but  chose  to 
lie  at  the  fireside. 

"On  the  l.'Uli  there  was  a  heavy  gale  of  wind,  and 
we  passed  the  day  by  the  fire.  Next  day,  about  two 
P.  M.,  the  gale  abating,  Michel  set  out  as  he  said  to 
hunt,  but  returned  unexpectedly  in  a  veiy  short  time. 
This  conduct  surprised  us,  and  his  contradictory  and 
evasory  answers  to  our  (piestlons  excited  some  suspic- 
ions, but  they  did  not  turn  towards  the  truth. 


B 


m 


■s'r 
Ik., '" 


222 


Dll.    llICnARDSON  8    NARRATIVE. 


!   f 


3     ! 


I   <■ 


":M 


"  Ocfoher  lath. — In  the  course  of  thiH  day  Michel 
expressed  iniich  regret  that  he  hud  staid  luHiind  Mr. 
Franklin's  party,  and  declared  that  he  would  set  out 
for  the  house  at  once  if  he  knew  tlie  way.  We  en- 
deavored to  soothe  him,  and  to  raise  his  hopes  of  the 
Indians  speedily  coming  to  our  relief,  but  without 
success. 

"  Next  day  he  refused  either  to  hunt  or  cut  wood, 
spoke  in  a  very  surly  manner,  and  threatened  to  leave 
us.  Under  these  circumstances,  INIr.  Ilood  and  I  deem- 
ed it  better  to  promise  if  he  Avould  hunt  diligently  for 
four  days,  that  then  we  wouhl  give  IIepl)urn  a  letter 
for  Mr.  Franklin,  a  comjiass,  inform  him  what  course 
to  pursue,  and  let  tliem  proceed  together  to  the  fort. 

"On  the  I7th  I  went  to  conduct  Michel  to  where 
Vaillant's  blanket  was  left,  and  after  walking  about 
three  miles,  pointed  out  the  hills  to  him  at  a  distance. 
lie  proposed  to  remain  out  all  night,  and  to  hunt 
next  day  on  his  way  back.  lie  returned  in  the  after- 
noon of  the  ISth,  having  found  the  blanket,  together 
with  a  bag  containing  two  pistols,  and  some  other 
things  Avhich  had  l)een  left  beside  it.  We  had  some 
tn'jje  de  roche,  in  the  evening,  Init  j\lr.  Hood,  from  the 
constant  gri])ing  it  produced,  was  unable  to  eat  more 
than  one  or  two  spoonfuls.  lie  was  now  so  weak  as 
to  be  scarcely  able  to  sit  uj)  at  the  fireside,  and  com- 
plained that  the  least  breeze  of  M^nd  seemed  to  blow 
through  his  frame.  He  also  suifered  much  from  cold 
during  the  night. 

"  On  the  lOtli  Michel  refused  to  hunt,  or  even  to  as- 
sist in  carrying  a  log  of  wood  to  the  fire,  which  Avas 
too  heavy  for  Hepburn's  strength  and  mine.  Mr. 
Hood  endeavored  to  point  out  to  him  the  necessity 
and  duty  of  e:rertion,  and  the  cioielty  of  his  quitting 


E3^     n  po 


FUANKLIN  S    FIUST    LAND    EXPEDITION. 


228 


118  without  leaving  something  for  our  support ;  but  the 
diwcoui'se,  fur  from  producing  any  beneficial  effect, 
seemed  only  to  excite  his  anger,  and  amongst  other  ex- 
pressions he  made  use  of  the  following  renuirkable  one  : 
"  It  is  no  use  hunting,  there  are  uo  animals,  you  had 
better  kill  and  eat  me." 

"  (h'toher  20.  —  In   the   mornincr  we   airain   urjjed 


morning 


agam 


Michel  (o  go  a  hunting,  that  he  might  if  iH)ssil»le  leave 
us  some  ])rovision,  to-morrow  being  the  day  appointed 
for  his  quitting  us  ;  but  he  showed  great  unwilling- 
ness  to  go  out,  and  lingered  about  the  fire,  under  the 
preteuse  of  cleaning  his  gun.  After  we  had  read  the 
morning  service,  I  went  about  noon  to  gather  some 
tri2)e  de  voclie^  leaving  Mr.  Hood  sitting  before  the  tent 
at  the  fireside,  arguing  with  ]\Iichel ;  Hepburn  was 
employed  cutting  down  a  tree  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  tent,  being  desirous  of  accumulating  a  (pian- 
tity  of  fire- wood  before  he  left  us.  A  short  time  after 
I  went  out,  I  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  and  about  ten 
minutes  afterwards  Hepburn  called  to  me  in  a  voice 
of  great  alarm,  to  come  directly.  When  I  arrivetl,  I 
found  poor  IIt)od  lying  lifeless  at  the  fireside,  a  ball 
having  apparently  entered  his  forehead.  I  was  at  first 
horror-struck  with  the  idea,  that  in  a  fit  of  despond- 
ency he  had  hurried  himself  into  the  presence  of  his 
almighty  Judge,  by  an  act  of  his  own  hand ;  but  the 
conduct  of  Michel  soon  gave  rise  to  other  thoughts, 
and  excited  suspicions  which  were  confirmed  when 
upon  examining  the  body,  I  discovered  that  the  shot 
had  entered  the  back  part  of  the  head,  and  passed 
out  at  the  forehead,  and  that  the  muzzle  of  the  gun 
had  been  applied  so  close  as  to  set  fire  to  the  night- 
cap behind.  The  gun,  which  was  of  the  longest  kind, 
supplied  to  the  Indians,  could  not  have  been  placed 


I       ,   ; 


224 


DR.  RICHARDSON  S    NARRATIVE. 


Ifi!    i  2 


iV     i> 


T  1!   . 


H'ir  '^ 


i  s 


in  a  position  to  inflict  sneli  a  wound,  except  hy  a  sec- 
ond person. 

"  Upon  inquiring  of  IMicliel  liow  it  liappened,  lie 
replied,  that  Mr.  Hood  had  sent  him  into  the  tent  for 
a  short  a:un,  and  that  diiriiii;  his  absence  the  lone:  ijun 
had  gone  off,  he  did  not  know  A\hether  by  accident 
or  not.  He  held  the  short  gun  in  his  hand  at  the 
time  he  was  speaking  to  me.  IIepl)urn  afterwards 
informed  me,  that  pre\ious  to  the  report  of  the  gun, 
Mr  Hood  and  Michel  were  speaking  to  each  other  in 
an  elevated,  ang)'y  tone  ;  that  ]\[r.  ^lood  being  seated 
at  the  fireside,  was  hid  from  him  by  intervening  wil- 
lows, but  that  on  hearing  the  report  he  looked  up,  and 
saw  INIichel  rising  up  from  before  the  tent  door,  or 
just  behind  where  Mr.  IJood  was  seated,  and  then  go- 
ing into  the  tent.  Thinking  that  the  gun  had  been 
discharged  for  the  purpose  of  cleaning  it,  he  did  not 
go  to  the  fire  at  first ;  and  when  Michel  called  to  liira 
that  Mr.  Hood  was  dead,  a  considerable  time  had 
elapsed.  Although  I  dared  not  ojjenly  to  evince  any 
susi)icion  that  I  thought  Michel  guilty  of  the  deed, 
yet  he  repeatedly  protested  that  he  was  incapable  of 
committing  such  an  act,  kept  constantly  on  his  guard, 
and  carefully  avoided  leaving  Hepburn  and  me  to- 
gether.. He  was  evidently  afraid  of  permitting  us  to 
converse  in  private,  and  whenever'  Henburn  spoke,  he 
incjuired  if  he  accused  him  of  the  murder. 

"  We  removed  the  body  into  a  clump  of  willows 
behind  the  tent,  and,  returning  to  the  fire,  read  the 
funeral  service  in  addition  to  the  evening  prayers. 
The  loss  of  a  young  ofiicer,  of  such  distinguished  and 
varied  talents  and  application,  may  be  felt  and  duly 
appreciated  by  the  eminent  characters  under  whose 
command  he  had  served ;  but  the  calmness  with  which 


^^^ 


FIIANKLIN  S    FIRST   LAND    lOXPKDlTIOX. 


225 


lie  c'onteni[)lated  tlie  proLuLle  termination  of  a  life  of 
iinconinion  proniine ;  and  tlie  patience  and  fcniitude 
Avitli  wliicli  he  sustained,  I  may  venture  to  say,  unpar- 
alleled bodily  sufi'erings,  can  only  be  known  to  tlie 
comj)anions  of  Lis  distresses,  Jiickerstetlti^  S(:i'!pture 
Help  Avas  lying  ojjen  beside  tlie  body,  as  if  it  had  fall- 
en frt)m  his  hand,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  was  read- 
ing it  at  the  instant  of  his  death. 

''  A\  e  })assed  the  night  in  the  tent  together  without 
rest,  every  one  being  on  his  guard. 

"  Next  day,  having  determined  on  going  to  the  Fort, 
we  began  to  patch  and  pi-epare  our  clothes  for  the 
journey.  We  singed  the  hair  off  a  part  of  the  buffalo 
robe  that  belonged  to  ^Iv.  Jlood,  and  boiled  and  ate 
it.  JNIichel  tried  to  persuade  nie  to  go  to  the  woods 
on  the  Coppermine  lli\er,  and  hunt  for  deer,  instead 
of  going  to  the  Fort.  In  tlu^  afternoon  a  flock  of  par- 
tridu'es  comiiuc  near  the  tent,  he  killed  several,  which 
lie  shared  with  us. 

"Thick  snowy  weather  and  a  head  wind  ]irevented 
us  from  starting  the  following  day,  but  on  the  morn- 
ing of  tlie  23d  we  set  out,  carrying  with  us  the  re- 
mainder of  the  singed  rol)e.  Hepburn  and  Michel 
had  each  a  gun,  and  I  carried  a  small  pistol,  which 
Hepburn  had  loaded  for  me.  In  the  c(nirse  of  tlie 
inai'ch,  Mii'hel  alarmed  us  much  })y  his  gestures  and 
conduct,  was  constantly  muttering  to  himself,  express- 
ed an  unwillingness  to  go  to  the  Fort,  and  tried  to 
persuade  me  to  go  to  tlu^  southward  to  the  woods, 
where  he  said  he  could  maintain  himself  all  the  winter 
by  killing  deer.  In  consequence  of  this  behavior,  and 
the  expression  of  his  countenance,  I  requested  him  to 
leave  us  and  to  go  to  the  southward  by  himself.  This* 
propctsal  increased  his  ill-nature,  he  threw  out  some 


!■.    f  ii 


"  m 


i 


i^^  HA 


m' 


^  >l: 


i 


h     HI 


226 


DR.    rJCHAEDSON  S    NARRATIVE. 


obscure  hints  of  freeing  liiniself  from  all  restraint  on 
tlie  morro^v ;  and  I  ovei'heard  liini  muttering  threats 
against  IlepLurn,  whom  he  oj^enly  accused  of  having 
told  stoi'ies  against  him.  lie  also  for  the  first  time, 
assumed  such  a  tone  of  superiority  in  addressing  me,  as 
evinced  that  he  considered  us  to  be  completely  in  liia 
power,  and  he  gave  vent  to  several  expressions  of 
hatred  toAvards  the  white  people,  or  as  he  termed  us 
in  the  idiom  of  the  voyagers,  the  French,  some  of 
■whom,  he  said,  had  killed  and  eaten  his  uncle  and  two 
of  his  relatiims. 

"  In  short,  taking  every  circumstance  of  his  conduct 
into  consideration,  I  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  he 
would  attempt  to  destroy  us  on  the  first  oj)i)ortunity 
that  offered,  and  that  he  had  hitherto  abstained  from 
doing  so  from  his  ignorance  of  the  way  to  the  Fort, 
but  that  he  would  never  suffer  us  to  go  thither  in 
company  with  him.  Hepburn  and  I  were  not  in  a 
condition  to  resist  even  an  open  attack,  nor  could  we 
by  any  device  escape  from  him.  Our  united  strength 
was  far  inferior  to  his,  and,  beside  his  gun,  he  was 
armed  Avith  two  pistols,  an  Indian  bayonet,  and  a  knife. 
In  the  afternoon,  coming  to  a  rock  on  which  there 
was  some  frijje  de  roche^  he  halted,  and  said  he  Avould 
gather  it  -whilst  we  went  on,  and  that  he  w^ould  soon 
oveiinke  us. 

"llepbni'n  and  I  were  now  left  together  for  the 
first  time  since  Mr.  Hood's  death,  and  he  acquainted 
me  "sWtli  several  material  circumstances  which  he  liad 
observed  of  Michel's  behavior,  and  which  confirmed 
me  in  the  opinion  that  there  was  no  safety  for  us  ex- 
cept in  his  death,  and  he  offered  to  be  the  instrument 
of  it.  I  determined,  however,  as  I  was  thoroughly 
convinced  of  the  necessity  of  such  a  dread  ad  act,  to 


FEANKUN  S    FIRST    LAND    EXPEDITION. 


227 


take  tlie  whole  responsibility  upon  myself ;  find  imme- 
diately upon  Micliel's  coming  up,  I  put  an  end  to  lils 
life  by  slic^oting  liim  tlirougli  the  Lead  -with  a  pistol. 
Had  my  own  life  alone  been  threatened,  I  would  not 
have  purchased  it  by  such  a  measure ;  but  I  considered 
myself  as  intrusted  also  with  the  protection  of  IlejD- 
burn's,  a  man,  who,  l)y  his  humane  attentions  and  de- 
votedness,  had  so  endeared  himself  to  me,  that  I  felt 
nn)re  anxiety  for  his  safety  than  for  my  o^vn.  Michel 
had  gathered  no  tripe  de  roche,  and  it  was  eN'ident  to 
us  tliat  he  had  halted  for  the  purp(jse  of  putting  his 
gnu  in  order,  with  the  intention  of  attacking  us,  per- 
haps, ^.iulst  we  were  in  the  act  of  encamping. 

"  I  luiv  u  ^.avelt  in  the  preceding  part  of  the  narrative 
upon  many  circumstances  of  Michel's  conduct,  not  for 
the  purjiose  of  aggravating  his  crime,  but  to  put  the 
rea<ler  in  ])ossession  of  the  reasons  tliat  influenced  me 
in  de})riving  a  fellow  creature  of  life.  Up  to  the 
period  of  his  I'eturn  to  the  tent,  his  conduct  had  been 
good  and  respectful  to  the  officers,  and  in  a  conversa- 
tion between  Captain  Franklin,  Mr.  Hood,  and  myself, 
at  01)struction  Rapid,  it  had  been  proposed  to  give 
him  a  reward  upon  our  arri^•al  at  a  post.  His  ])rinci- 
ples,  ho^vevei",  unsupported  l)y  a  belief  in  tlie  divine 
truths  of  Christianity,  were  unable  to  withstand  the 
pressure  of  severe  distress.  His  countrymen,  the  Iro- 
rpiois,  are  generally  Christians,  but  he  was  totally  un- 
instructed  and  ignorant  of  the  duties  inculcated  by 
Cliristianity ;  and  from  his  long  residence  in  the  Indian 
countiy,  seems  to  have  imbibed,  or  retained,  the  rules 
of  conduct  which  the  southerii  Indians  prescribe  to 
themselves 

"  On  the  two  followins;  days  we  had  mild  but  thick 
snowy  Av  eather,  and  as  the  view  was  too  limited  to 


i\  1 


>iil,'^''' 


i  1 


i 


*'- 1      fl^ 


'r-i!!)  i-i 


■!  I  ' 


Ifl 


Ir 


hill 


'*j 


■•$i^: 


228 


DPw  eiciiardson's  naerative. 


enal)le  us  to  preserve  a  straight  course,  we  remained 
encamped  amongst  a  few  Avillows  and  dwai"f  pines, 
about  liA^e  miles  from  the  tent.  On  tlie  2(3tli,  tlie 
weather  l^eing  clear  and  exti-emely  cold,  v>e  resumed 
our  march,  Avhich  was  very  painful  from  the  depth  of 
the  snoAV,  particidarly  on  the  margins  of  the  small 
lakes  that  lay  in  our  route.  AVe  frequently  sunk 
under  the  load  of  our  blankets,  and  were  obliged  to 
assist  each  other  in  getang  up. 

"AVe  came  in  siirht  of  the  fort  at  dusk  on  the  20th, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  describe  our  sensations,  when 
on  attaining  the  eminence  that  overloc  ks  it,  we  be- 
held the  smoke  issuing  from  one  of  the  chimneys. 
From  not  having  met  Avith  any  footsteps  in  the  snow, 
as  Ave  drcAV  nigh  our  once  cheerful  residence,  Ave  had 
been  agitated  by  many  melancholy  forebodings. 
Upon  enteihig  the  noAV  desolate  building,  Ave  had  the 
satisfaction  of  embracing  Captain  Franklin,  but  no 
Avords  can  couA'ey  an  idea  of  the  filth  and  Avretched- 
ness  that  met  our  eyes  on  looking  around.  Our  oAvn 
misery  had  stolen  upon  us  by  degrees,  and  A\'e  Avere 
accustomed  to  the  contemplation  of  each  other's  ema- 
ciated figures,  but  the  ghastly  countenances,  dilated 
eye-balls,  and  sepulchral  voices  of  IMr.  Franklin  and 
those  Avith  him,  Avere  more  than  Ave  could  at  first 
bear." 


The  morning  of  October  »*]  1st  aa^is  A^eiy  cold,  and 
matters  did  not  improA'e  at  Fort  Enterprise.  At- 
tempts to  kill  <leer  and  ji^^rf^'idges  Avere  unsuccessful, 
and  Peltier  and  Samandre  grcAV  Aveaker;  Aviihin  two 
days  both  Avere  dead. 

On  the  7th  of  X()A"end)er,  the  report  of  a  muske^ 
AA'^as  heard,  and  three  Indians  Avere  seen  close  to  the 


franklin's  first  land  expjodition. 


229 


house.  Relief  lind  arrived  at  last ;  Adams  was  in  so 
weak  a  state  that  he  could  hardly  coiuprehend  it,  but 
on  taking  food  he  rapidly  improved. 

"  The  Indians  had  left  Akaitcho's  encampment  on  the 
5th  of  November,  having  been  sent  by  Mr.  Back  with  all 
possible  expedition,  after  he  had  arrived  at  their  tents. 
They  brought  but  a  small  supply  of  pi'ovisions,  that 
tliey  might  travel  (pdckly.  BoucU'l-kell,  the  youngest 
of  the  Indians,  after  i-esang  about  an  hour,  returned 
to  Akaitcho  with  the  intelligence  of  our  situation. 
The  two  others,  "  Crooked  Foot  and  the  Rat,"  remain- 
ed to  take  care  of  us.  They  set  about  everything 
Avith  an  activity  that  amazed  us." 

On  the  18th,  the  Indians  became  despondent  at  the 
non-arrival  of  supplies,  and  in  the  evening  A\ent  off 
after  giving  each  of  the  white  men  a  handful  of  poimd- 
ed  meat.  On  the  15th,  Crooked  Foot  and  two  other 
Indians  appeared,  ^vith  two  Indian  "women  dragging 
provisions. 

On  the  IGth  of  November  the  travelers  started  to- 
wards Fort  Providence,  escorted  b}'  the  Indians,  who 
treated  their  charge  AN'ith  the  greatest  tenderness,  pre- 
paring their  encampment  and  cooking  for  them.  On 
the  2()ththey  arrived  safely  at  theabotle  of  Akaitcho, 
and  Avere  received  by  the  Indians  in  his  tent  Avith 
looks  of  compassion  and  profound  silence  of  fifteen, 
minutes  duration,  Avhereby  they  meant  to  express  their 
condolence.  Nothinn:  was  said  until  after  the  Avhite 
men  had  tasted  food. 

On  the  Sth  of  December,  Franklin  and  Richardson 
took  leave  of  Akaitch(»  an<l  started  south,  conducted 
by  Belanger  and  a  Canadian  wh«)  had  been  sent  for 
them  with  sledge>  drawn  by  dogs.  They  ar.'ved  at 
Fort  Providence  on  the  11th,  and   were  there  visited 


!  1>. 


I         ■      ;  * 


1     "   I 


Ml 


2S0 


ARRIVAL   AT  FORT  YORK. 


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iji. .  'k . 


by  Akaitcho  and  his  band,  with  Adam,  who  had  united 
with  them.  In  the  course  of  conversation  Akaitcho 
said  to  Franklin,  "  I  know  you  write  down  every  oc- 
currence in  your  books ;  but  probably  you  have  only 
noticed  the  bad  things  we  have  said  and  done,  and 
omitted  to  mention  the  good." 

Starting  southward  again,  the  party  reached  Moose- 
Deer  Island  on  the  l7tli,  where  they  found  Mr.  Back, 
who  gave  an  affecting  detail  of  the  proceedings  of  his 
party  since  the  separation.  His  narrative  is  but  a 
continuation  of  the  same  kind  of  suffering  by  famine 
and  cold.  For  days  they  had  nothing  to  eat,  and  one 
of  his  men,  Beauparlant,  died  on  the  way. 

On  the  2Gth  of  May,  after  a  five  months'  residence  at 
Moose-Deer  Island,  the  party  started  for  Fort  Chipew- 
yan,  Avhere  they  met  Mr.  Wentzel ;  his  excuse  for  fail- 
ing to  keep  a  supply  of  provisions  at  Foi-t  Enterprise 
was  that  he  could  not  control  the  Indians. 

I'ranklin,  Richardson,  and  Augustus  arrived  at  Fori; 
York  on  the  14th  of  July  1822.  Aii«l  thus  termina- 
ted their  long,  fat" --Ming,  and  disastrous  travels  in 
North  America,  having  Journe}'ed  l)y  Avater  and  by 
l.md  (including  their  navigation  of  the  Polai*  Sea,) 
five  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 


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J,l^ 


CHAPTER   XVT. 
FRANKLIN'S  SECOND  LAND   EXPEDITION. 

In  July  1825,  Captain  Franklin  and  his  party,  Avliich 
inclnded  his  old  companions  Messrs.  liieliardson  and 
Back,  arrived  at  Fort  Cliipewyan  on  Lis  second  expe- 
dition to  the  northern  shores  of  America.  In  due 
time  the  whole  party  assembled  on  the  banks  of  the 
Great  Bear  Lake  River,  which  flows  ont  of  that  lake 
on  the  western  side  into  the  Mackenzie  River,  down 
which  they  were  to  descend  to  the  sea  in  the  follow- 
ing summer. 

On  the  8th  of  August,  Franklin  embarked  in  the 
"Lion"  for  a  preliminar}^  ti'ip  down  the  Mackenzie. 
Back  with  three  canoes  accompanied  him.  Near  a 
place  called  the  "  Ramparts  "  they  fell  in  ^^■ith  a  party 
of  Hare  Indians  all  neatly  clothed  in  new  leathern 
dresses,  highly  ornamented  with  beads  and  porcupine 
(jiiills,  both  sexes  alike,  who  brought  fish,  berries  and 
meat.  At  Fort  Good  Hope,  the  lowest  of  the  fur  es- 
tablishments, Charles  Dease,  chief  trader  of  the  com- 
pany, received  the  travelers  and  prepar.'d  a  meal  for 
them  at  midnight.  This  fort  was  situated  among  the 
Indiana  whom  Mackenzie  called  Quarrelers,  but 
Avliom  the  traders  named  Loucheux  or  S(piinters. 

Continuing  on,  the  party  came  to  Avhat  they  sup- 
posed to  be  the  Arctic  Sea,  and  on  Garry  Island  a  tent 
14  231 


' '  u 


ir 


232 


FOIIT   FItANKLIN. 


was  pitclied,  and  the  flag  wliich  Franklin's  deeply 
lamented  wife  had  given  him  on  pai'ting,  to  be  unfurled 
only  in  view  of  this  sea,  was  hoisted. 

During  Franklin's  absence  on  this  trip  suitable 
buildings  were  erected  and  named  Fort  Franklin,  and 
here  the  adventnrei's  remained  through  the  winter, 
which  though  severe  was  passed  in  comparative  com- 
fort. The  last  swan  flew  to  the  south  on  the  5th  of 
October,  and  the  first  one  re-ap[)eared  on  the  fith  of 
May.  Moscpdtoes  arrived  on  the  24th  of  May,  and 
the  first  flower  was  gathered  on  tlie  27th. 

The  boats  were  launched  on  the  15tli  of  June,  and 
the  men  appointed  to  their  respective  stations  and 
furnished  with  blue  water-proof  unifoi-ms  and  feathers. 
The  day  was  closed  by  drinking  a  small  (piantity  of 
rum  reserved  for  the  occasion,  followed  by  a  merry 
dance  in  which  all  joined. 

The  adventurers  left  Fort  Franklin  on  the  21st  of 
June,  leaving  behind  in  charge  of  the  fort  only  an  old 
fisherman,  who  would  not  let  them  depart  without 
giving  his  hearty  though  solitary  cheer,  which 
was  returned  in  full  chorus.  Early  in  July  they 
reached  a  broad  part  of  the  river  where  different 
channels  branch  off,  and  here  the  party  divided. 
Franklin  and  Back  in  the  Lion  and  lleliance  took  the 
western  channel,  and  Richardson  with  two  other 
boats  took  the  easterly  one. 

On  the  7tli  of  July  Franklin's  party  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  discovered  on  an  island  a  mul- 
titude of  tents  and  many  Es(piimaux.  Articles 
for  presents  and  trade  having  been  selected,  the  boats 
sailed  toward  the  tents  with  the  ensigns  flying,  but 
touched  ground  ^\hen  about  a  mile  from  the  beach. 
Three  kayaks  instantly  put  off  from  the  shore  and 
others   quickly  followed,  so  that   the   whole   space 


AT   TTIK    JIOUTII    OF    TIIK    MACKENZIE. 


233 


between  the  ihIuiuI  and  the  Loats  was  covered  with 
tlieni.  The  leading  kayaks  wliere  pacUlled  l)y  ehlerly 
men,  whom  Angnstns  invited  to  approach  and  receive 
a  present,  telling  them  that  if  a  channel  for  h\u])h 
were  found  they  Mould  come  and  open  a  trade.  On 
hearing  whicli  they  sliouted  f(n'  joy. 

A  ti'a<le  was  now  connu'.Miccd  and  three  hundred 
natives  crowded  around  the  l)oats,  anxious  :>  sell 
their  hows,  arrows,  and  s])ears,  and  although  their 
iin[)ortunities  were  trouldesome,  tliey  showed  no 
unfriendly  disposition  until  an  accident  occurred 
which  was  productive  of  annoying  conse(piences. 

"A  kayak  being  overset  by  one  of  the  Lion's  oars, 
its  o\vner  was  plunged  into  the  Avater  with  his  head 
in  the  mud,  and  ai)])arently  in  danger  of  being  drowned. 
We  instnntly  extricated  him  from  his  unpleasant  situ- 
ation, and  took  him  into  the  boat  imtil  the  water 
could  be  thrown  out  of  his  kayak ;  and  Augustus, 
seeing  him  shivering  with  cold,  wrai)ped  him  up  in 
his  own  great-coat.  At  first  he  was  exceedingly  angry, 
but  soon  became  reconciled  to  his  situation  ;  and,  look- 
ing about,  discovered  that  Ave  had  many  bales  and 
other  articles  in  the  boat,  which  had  been  concealed 
from  the  pe()[)le  in  the  kayaks,  l)y  the  coverings  being 
carefully  spread  over  all.  lie  soon  began  to  ask  for 
everything  he  saw,  and  expressed  nuich  displeasure 
on  our  refusing  to  comply  with  his  demands ;  he  also, 
as  we  afterwards  learned,  excited  the  cupidity  oi 
others  by  his  account  of  the  inexhaustible  riches  in 
the  Lion,  and  several  of  the  younger  men  endeavored 
to  get  into  both  our  boats,  but  we  resisted  all  their 
attempts." 

IMeantime  the  water  havinof  ebbed  so  that  it  was 
only  knee  deep  where  the  boats  lay,  the  natives  seized 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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Sdences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

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234 


THE   EXPEDITIOX    IX   TROUBLE. 


the  Reliance  and  drau^ged  it  to  the  beach.  Franklin, 
who  was  in  the  Lion,  says : — 

"Two  of  the  most  powerful  men,  jumping  on  board 
at  the  same  time,  8eize<l  me  by  the  wrists  and  forced 
me  to  sit  between  them  ;  and  as  I  shook  them  loose 
two  or  three  times,  a  third  Es(|uimaux  took  his  station 
in  front  to  catch  my  arm  Avhenever  I  attemjited  to  lift 
my  gun,  or  the  broad  dagger  which  hung  by  my  side. 
The  whole  way  to  the  slioi-e  they  kej)t  repeating  the 
word  ^teymdj  beating  gently  on  my  left  breast  with 
their  hands,  and  pressing  mine  against  their  breasts. 
As  weneared  the  beach,  two  oomiaks  full  of  women 
arrived,  and  i\\e^teymaH^  and  vociferation  were  re- 
doubled. The  Reliance  was  tirst  brought  to  the  shore, 
and  the  Lion  close  to  her  a  few  seconds  afterward. 
The  three  men  Avho  held  me  now  leaped  ashore,  and 
those  who  had  remained  in  their  canoes,  takinjj  them 
out  of  the  water,  carried  them  to  a  little  distance.  A 
numerous  party  then  drawing  their  knives,  and  strip- 
ping themselves  to  the  waist,  ran  to  the  Reliance,  and, 
having  first  hauled  her  as  far  up  as  they  could,  began 
a  regular  pillage,  handing  the  articles  to  the  women, 
who,  ranged  in  a  row  behind,  (piickly  conveyed  them 
out  of  sight." 

In  short,  after  a  furious  contest  for  possession  of  the 
goods,  during  which  knives  were  brandished  in  a  most 
threatening  manner,  several  of  the  men's  clothes  cut 
through,  an<l  the  ])utt<Mis  of  others  torn  from  their 
coats,  Lieutenant  J^ack  ordered  his  men  to  seize  and 
level  their  muskets,  but  not  to  fire  till  the  wor<l  was 
given.  This  had  the  desired  eflFect,  the  whole  crowd 
taking  to  their  heels  and  hiding  themselves  behind  the 
dnft-timber  on  the  beach.  Franklin  still  thought  it 
best  to  temporize   bo  long  as  the  boats  were  lying 


A   BUAVE  I^'T£I{PUE1'£R. 


235 


agi'ound,  and  states  his  conviction,  "considering  the 
state  of  excitement  to  which  they  had  worked  tlieiu- 
selves,  that  the  iii-st  blood  which  his  party  might  un 
fortunately  have  shed  would   instantly  have  been  re 
venged  by  the  sacrifice  of  all  their  lives." 

The  boats  floated  soon  afterwards,  and  as  they  were 
leaving,  some  of  the  natives  walked  along  the  beach 
and  invited  Augustus  to  a  conference  on  shore.  "  I 
was  unwilling  to  let  him  go,"  says  Franklin,  "  but 
the  brave  little  fellow  entreated  so  earnestly  that  I 
would  suffer  him  to  land  and  reprove  the  Esquimaux 
for  their  conduct,  that  I  at  length  consented."  On 
his  return,  being  desired  to  tell  what  he  said  to  them, 
"  he  had  told  them,"  he  said, 

"  Your  conduct  Ins  been  very  bad,  and  unlike  that 
of  all  other  Esjjuimaux.  Some  of  you  even  stolt^  fiom 
me,  y<mr  countryman ;  but  that  I  do  not  mind  ;  I  only 
regret  that  you  should  have  treated  in  this  violent 
manner  the  white  people,  who  came  solely  to  do  you 
a  kindness.  My  tribe  were  in  the  same  unhaj)j)y 
state  in  which  you  now  are  before  the  white  i)eople 
came  to  Churchill,  but  at  jjresent  they  are  supi)lied 
with  everything  they  need,  and  yoii  see  tliat  I  am 
well  elothe<l;  I  get  all  that  1  want,  and  juii  very  com- 
foitable.  You  cannot  exj)ect,  after  the  transactions 
of  this  day,  that  these  people  will  ever  bring  g()o<ls  to 
vour  country  airain,  unless  vt>u  show  your  contrition 
by  restoring  the  stolen  goods.  The  whitt^  ]>eo]»le 
love  the  Ksipiimaux,  and  wish  to  show  them  the  same 
kiiulness  that  they  bestow  uixm  the  Indians.  ])o  not 
deceive  yourselves,  and  su])]»ose  they  are  afi'aid  of  you ; 
I  tell  you  they  are  not;  and  that  it  is  entirely  owing  to 
their  humanity  that  many  of  you  were  not  killed 
to-day ;  for  they  have  all  guns,  w  ith  which  th^y  can 


'ii-i 


236 


SECOND    WINTEB   AT   FORT   FUANKLIN. 


1  1 


tlestroy  you  eitlier  when  near  or  at  a  distance.  I 
also  have  a  gun,  an<l  can  assure  you  that  if  a  white 
man  had  fallen  I  would  have  been  the  fii*8t  to  have 
revenged  his  death." 

In  reply,  the  natives  said  that  having  never  seen 
white  men  before  they  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
of  stealing  their  pretty  things  ;  they  promised  never 
to  do  the  like  again,  and  gave  a  proof  of  their  sin- 
cerity l)y  restoring  the  articles  that  had  been  stolen; 
and  thus,  in  an  amicable  manner,  was  the  affray  con- 
cluded. 

On  the  13th  of  July,  Franklin  started  to  examine 
the  sea  coast  westerly  of  the  Mackenzie  Kiver,  and 
discovered  on  the  Stth,  the  mouth  of  another  large 
river  which  he  named  the  Clarence.  The  extreme 
westerly  point  reached  by  the  party  was  called  Keturn 
lieef,  near  longtitude  140''.  From  this  place  they 
started  to  return  on  the  18th  of  August.  At  this 
same  time,  as  was  subsequently  ascertained,  a  boat 
party  from  Beechy's  Behring's  Strait  expedition,  wiis 
oidy  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  west  of  them  on 
the  same  coast. 

Franklin  and  his  i>arty  reached  Fort  Franklin  in 
safety  on  the  21st  of  September,  after  traveling  in 
three  months  two  thousand  and  foi'ty-eight  miles. 
Here  they  found  Dr.  Richardson  and  his  party,  who 
had  sailed  eastward  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie 
Iliver  to  the  mouth  of  the  Coppermine,  and  thence 
overland  to  the  rendezvous,  making  altogether  a 
journey  of  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty 
miles. 

A  second  winter,  and  an  intensely  cold  one,  was 
passed  pleasantly  at  Fort  Franklin.  At  this  same 
time  Captain  Parry  was  wintering  amid  the  ice  at  a 


THE   MAGNETIC   POLE. 


287 


point  further  north,  as  related  in  former  chapters. 
It  chanced  that  the  magnetic  pole  lay  at  this  time 
between  them.  "  For  the  same  months,"  says  Fi'ank- 
lin,  "at  the  interval  of  only  one  year,  Captain  Parry 
and  myself  were  making  houi'ly  observatii^ns  on  two 
needles,  the  north  ends  of  which  pointed  almost  direct- 
ly towards  each  other,  though  our  actual  distance 
apart  did  not  exceed  eight  hundred  and  fifty-five  geo- 
graphical miles ;  and  while  the  needle  of  Port  Bowen 
was  increasing  its  westerly  dii'ection,  ours  was  increas- 
ing its  easterly,  and  the  contrary — the  variation  being 
west  at  Port  Bowen,  and  east  at  Fort  Franklin — a 
beautiful  and  satisfactory  proof  of  the  solar  influence 
on  the  daily  variation." 

When  spring  opened  Franklin  and  his  companions 
staiiied  southward,  and  arrived  in  London  in  Septem- 
ber. 


'  m 


f  ^s 


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cii 


■V  -|i 


CHAPTER  XYIT. 

ARCTIC  VOYAGES  OF  SCORESBY,  CLAVER- 
ING  AND  SABINE,  LYONS,  AND  BEECIIEY. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  while  we  are  greatly 
indebted  to  scientific  and  amateur  discoverei-H  for  our 
knowledge  <)f  the  Arctic  I'egionn,  we  are  also  luider 
obligations  to  practical  seamen  ;  and  among  them  no 
one  has  shown  more  zeal  and  intelligence  than  Cajit., 
afterwards  Dr.,  Score8l>y.  This  gentleman,  bred  and 
reared,  as  it  were,  amid  the  tempests  and  snows  of 
the  North,  and  inheriting  the  love  of  adventure  from 
his  father  who  was  also  a  captain  in  the  whale  ser- 
vice and  gave  his  son  a  mai'ine  education,  observed 
the  phenomena  of  the  Northern  seas,  with  an  eiKiuir- 
ing  and  scientific  eye  unusual  among  those  who  pur- 
sue the  rough  life  of  a  whaler. 

In  1800,  Capt.  Scoresby,  then  acting  as  mate  under 
his  father  who  commanded  a  Greenland  ship,  made  a 
nearer  api)roaoh  to  the  North  Pole  than  had  hitherto 
been  fully  authenticated  ;  for  the  statements  of  the 
Dutch  and  other  navigators  who  boast  of  having  gone 
much  nearer,  are  subject  to  great  doubt  as  to  the  cor- 
rectness of  their  observations. 

Proceeding  by  Jan  Mayen    into  the  whale-bight, 

they  found  the  Avaters  encumbered  by  much  broken 

238 


8COKE8BY  A   DISCOVEUIKS. 


239 


ice,  through  which  they  made  their  way  into  an  ojien 
sea  so  extensive  that  its  tonnination  couhl  not  be  dis- 
covered, but  was  estimated  to  extend  four  or  five 
hundred  sijuare  leagues.  Advancing  northward,  they 
arrived  at  a  very  ch>se  continuous  fiehl  of  bay-ice, 
compacted  by  drifting  fragments.  Pushing  their  way 
through  this  by  the  most  laborious  exertions,  they 
succeeded  in  reaching  another  oj)cn  sea,  un})ounded, 
except  by  ice  on  the  south  and  land  in  the  distant 
east. 

As  their  ol)ject  was  to  catch  whales,  and  not  to 
visit  the  Pole,  they  sailed  in  a  north-west  direction, 
swiftly  crossing  the  short  meri<lians  of  this  parallel, 
and  soon  passed  from  the  tenth  degree  of  east  to  the 
eighth  of  west  longitude.  Their  latitude  was  7U^-35 ', 
and  the  sea  was  still  open  on  every  side.  As  they 
found  no  whales,  they  changed  their  taek,  and  I'an 
east-north-east  about  three  hundred  miles,  till  they 
came  to  the  nineteenth  de<;ree  of  east  lony-itude  and 
to  latitude  81'^-30' — only  about  five  hundred  geo. 
graphical  miles  from  the  Pole.  The  sea  lay  open 
before  them,  and  it  was  a  great  teni[)tation  to  the 
young  and  daring  sailor  to  run  up  and  hang  his  cap 
on  the  North  Pole;  Imt  the  father,  ])rudently  consid- 
ering that  he  had  been  fitted  out  by  a  mercantile  con- 
cern to  bring  home  a  cargo  of  whale  oil,  decidtd  not 
to  gratify  the  aml)ition  of  his  son,  and  turned  l>a('k- 
Avards  to  ITakluyt's  Headland,  where  he  was  rewarded 
for  his  fidelity  to  his  empl(>yers  l>y  catching  twenty- 
four  whales,  from  which  were  extracted  two  hundred 
and  sixteen  tons  of  oil. 

(^apt.  Scoresby,  the  younger,  afterwards  had  abun- 
dant opportunity  to  gratify  his  love  of  adventure. 
In  1817  he  made  an  excursion  on  Jan  May  en's  Island. 


f 


Ul 


if-!- 


240 


KXCUK810N    ON   JAN    MAYEN. 


t^h 


k 


tl 


r  '» 


The  most  striking  feature  was  the  inoun^''in  Beer- 
enberg,  which  reui-s  its  head  6870  feet  above  the  sea ; 
and,  being  seen  to  the  distance  of  thirty  or  forty 
leagues,  proves  a  conspicuous  landmark  to  the  mar- 
iner. The  first  objects  which  attracted  the  eye  were 
three  magnificent  icebergs,  which  rose  to  a  veiy  great 
height,  stretching  from  the  base  of  Beerenberg  to  the 
water's  edge.  Their  usual  greenish-gray  color,  diver- 
sified by  snow-white  patches  resembling  foam,  and 
with  black  points  of  rock  jutting  out  from  the  sui'face, 
gave  them  exactly  the  ai>pearance  of  immense  cas- 
cades, which  in  falling  had  been  fixed  by  the  powor 
of  frost. 

A  i)arty  ascended  a  mountain  which  composed  only 
the  l)aae  of  Beerenberg,  yet  was  itself  1500  feet  high. 
They  were  not  long  in  discovering  that  the  materials 
composing  this  eminence  were  entirely  volcanic.  They 
trod  only  upon  ashes,  slag,  baked  clay,  and  scorijc; 
and  whenever  these  substances  rolled  inider  their 
feet,  the  ground  beneath  made  a  sound  like  that  of 
empty  metallic  vessels  or  vaulted  caverns.  On  the 
sununit  they  discovered  a  spacious  crater,  about  GOO 
feet  deep,  and  700  yanls  in  diameter,  the  bottom  of 
which  was  filled  with  alluvial  matter,  and  which,  being 
surrounded  by  rugged  walls  of  red  clay  hall'-bakecl, 
had  the  appearance  of  a  spacious  castle.  A  s[)ring  of 
water  penetrated  its  side  by  a  subterranean  cavern, 
and  disappeared  in  the  sand.  Xo  attempt  was  made 
to  ascend  Beerenberg,  which  towered  in  awful  gran- 
deur, white  with  snow,  above  the  region  of  the  clouds ; 
but  at  its  feet  was  seen  another  crater  surrounded  by 
an  immense  accumulation  of  castellated  lava.  A  large 
^lass  of  iron  was  found,  that  had  been  smelted  by  the 
interior  fires.     The  volcano  was  at  this  time  entii'ely 


AMONG    THE    .MOIXTAINS. 


241 


silent,  but  the  next  year  Scoresby  saw  smoke  arising 
from  it  to  a  great  licidit. 

In  1818  lie  landed  near  IMitn^  Cape,  and  undertook 
to  reach  the  sununit  of  the  siui^ularly  insulated  cliff 
of  which  it  consists.  Much  of  the  ascent  was  over 
fragments  of  rock  so  loose  that  the  foot  in  walking 
slid  back  every  step.  At  one  jdace  th«^  ]>arty  found 
a  ridge  so  steep  that  Scorcsby  could  scat  himself 
across  it  as  on  the  back  of  a  hoi'sc.  They  reached  the 
sunnnit,  estimated  as  .'?()()()  feet  high,  about  midnight 
Mhen  the  sun  still  shone  on  its  snow-caj)i)C(l  pinnacle, 
causing  such  a  rapid  melting  that  streams  of  water 
were  flowing  around  them. 

The  view  from  this  sunnnit  is<lcscril)ed  by  Scoresby 
as  e<pially  grand,  extensive,  and  beautiful.  On  the 
cast  side  were  two  finely-sheltered  bays,  while  the  sea, 
unruffled  by  a  single  breeze,  formed  an  iniinense  ex- 
panse to  the  west.  The  icebergs  reared  their  fantastic 
forms  alnu>st  on  a  level  with  the  summits  of  the 
mountains,  wluwe  cavities  they  filled,  while  the  sun 
illumined,  but  could  not  dissolve  them.  The  valleys 
were  enamelled  with  beds  of  snow  and  ice,  one  of 
which  extended  beyond  reach  of  the  eye.  In  the 
interior,  mountains  rose  beyond  mountains  till  they 
nu'lted  into  distance.  The  cloudless  can()j)y  al)ove, 
and  the  positi<m  of  the  party  theniselvi's,  on  the  pin- 
nacle of  a  rock  surrounded  by  tremendous  pi-ccipices, 
conspired  to  render  their  situation  ecpially  singular 
and  sublime.  If  a  fragment  was  detached,  either 
spontaneously  or  by  design,  it  Ixmnded  from  rock  to 
rock,  raising  smoke  at  every  blow  and  setting  numerous 
other  fragments  in  motion,  till,  amid  showers  of  srones, 
it  reached  the  bottom  of  the  mountain. 

The  descent  of  the  party  was  more  difficult  and 


i^- 

■  r 

m 

jti  1^1  -. 

R' 

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p. 


242 


A    PEltlLOUS    DJ-isCENT. — KEFKACTION. 


perilous  than  the  ascent.  The  stones  sunk  heneath 
their  steps  and  rolled  down  the  mountain,  and  they 
were  obliged  to  walk  abreast ;  otherwise  the  foremost 
might  have  been  ovei'whelmed  under  the  masses  which 
those  behind  him  dislodged.  Finally,  to  the  astonish- 
ment and  alarm  of  tln^  sailoi*s'  beneath,  Scoresbv  and 
his  companions,  in  a  i)art  of  their  descent,  slid  down 
an  almost  perpendicular  wall  of  ice,  and  arrived  in 
safety  at  the  ships.  The  boacli  was  found  nearly 
covered  with  the  nests  of  terns,  ducks,  and  other  ten- 
ants of  the  Arctic  air,  in  some  of  which  there  Avere 
young,  over  whom  the  parents  kei>t  watch,  and,  by 
loud  ci'ies  and  vehement  gestures,  sought  to  defend 
them  against  the  gulls  and  other  ])redatory  tribes  hov- 
ering around.  Sevei'al  sailors  who  had  robbed  these 
nests  were  f<»llowe«l  to  a  considerable  distance  with 
loud  and  violent  screams. 

In  a  subseipient  whaling  voyage  along  the  coast  of 
Greenhuul  in  the  good  shi[>  BatHn,  Scoresby  made 
some  important  geographical  discoveries,  and  his 
attention  was  j)articularly  attracted  to  the  refractive 
power  of  the  l*olar  atmosphere  when  acting  on  ice 
and  other  objects  discerned  through  its  medium.  The 
rugged  surface  assume«l  the  forms  of  castles,  obelisks, 
and  spires,  which  here  and  there  were  sometimes  so 
linke<l  together  as  to  present  the  semi  dance  of  an  ex- 
tensive and  crowded  city.  At  other  times  it  resembled 
a  forest  of  naked  trees;  and  fancy  scarcely  recpiired 
an  effort  to  identify  its  varieties  with  the  productions 
of  human  art ; — sculptured  colossal  forms,  porticoes  of 
I  I'icli  and  regular  architecture, — even  with  the  shapes 
of  lions,  bears,  horses,  and  other  animals.  Ships  Avere 
seen  inverted,  and  suspended  high  in  the  air,  and 
their  hulls  often  so  magnified  as  to  resemble  huge 


DESKIITED    nAllITATIONS. 


243 


edifices.  01)ject8  really  V)eneath  the  liorizon  were 
raised  into  view  in  a  most  extraordinaiy  manner.  It 
swniH  jKwitively  ascertained,  that  points  in  the  coast 
of  (ireenlan<l  not  above  4000  feet  high,  were  seen  at 
the  distance  of  100  miles.  The  extensive  evaporation 
of  the  nieltin<;  ices,  with  the  une(pial  condensation 
produced  by  streams  of  cohl  air,  are  considered  by 
jMr.  Scoresby  as  the  chief  sources  of  this  extraordinaiy 
refract  i<jn. 

The  coasts  of  Greenland  were  found  richer  in  jdants 
and  verdure  than  any  others  seen  by  our  navigator 
within  the  Arctic  circle,  and  almost  deserving  the 
name  given  to  the  country  by  its  first  discoverers. 
Tile  grass  nin  in  one  place  to  one  fo(»t  in  height,  and 
there  were  meadows  of  several  acres  that  appeaivd 
nearly  ecpnil  to  any  in  England.  Nowhere  Avas  a 
human  being  seen,  l)ut  there  were  traces  of  recent  and 
freijuent  habitations,  not  constructed  of  snow  slabs 
like  those  of  the  Esquimaux,  but  dug  deep  in  the 
ground,  entered  by  a  long  winding  passage,  and  roof- 
ed with  a  wooden  frame  overlaid  with  moss  an<l  earth. 
Near  the  handets  were  excavations  in  the  earth,  serv- 
ing as  graves,  Avhere  implem«>nts  of  hunting,  found 
along  with  the  bones  of  the  deceased,  proved  the  prev- 
alence here  of  the  general  belief  of  savage;  nature, 
that  the  employments  of  man  in  the  future  life  will 
exactly  resendile  those  of  the  jn-esent. 

Our  navigator  would  have  Ix'en  ha]>py  to  examine 
more  of  the  Greenland  coast,  but  the  ship  was  not  his 
own,  and  the  object  of  his  voj-age  being  tt)  catch 
whales,  he  was  compelled  to  turn  in  another  direction. 

Scoresby's  discoveries  and  observations  are  appro- 
priately followed  by  those  of  Captains  Edward  Sabine 
and   D.  C.   Clavering,    which  were    made  more  in 


244 


CUUI8K   OF   THE   Gltll'KU. 


t 


belmlf  of  Hcicnoo  than  ^t'ogrnpliicul  (liwoveiy.  Sal)'m(> 
had  long  been  iiitt-n'stcd  in  ])hil()H<)|)liical  expcrinients 
on  thii  nhapc  of  ilu^  earth  l>y  nieann  of  tlui  ])r>n(1ulun), 
and  under  tlie  ])atronage  of  tlie  Knglirth  (rovernnient 
Imd  visited  Sierra  Ii<'one,  St.  Thonuis,  TrinithMl  and 
titlier  AVest  India  iMlan«lH,  and  also  New  York,  in  the 
ship  Pheasant  eonunanded  by  C'lavering.  So  eon- 
genial  wan  the  soeiety  of  these  two  gentlemen,  that 
when  it  was  proposed  to  Sa})ine  to  <»xtend  liis  obm^r- 
rations  into  the  Polar  regions,  lie  requested  that  (^lav- 
ering  might  command  the  gun-brig,  (Jriper,  whieh  had 
been  designated  to  convey  him  northward  ;  an<l  he  did 
8o.  The  Griper  sailed  from  the  Nore,  May  ^  'i\ 
1823,  being  duly  furnished  with  the  magneric  pendu- 
bim  and  various  astronomical  and  scientific  instru- 
ments. 

The  first  destination  of  the  Griper  was  TTammerfest, 
near  the  North  Cape  of  Norway,  where  she  arrived 
on  the  23d  of  June.  This  place,  built  on  a  small 
island  named  Qualoen,  is  in  latitude  70^40',  and  the 
dip  of  the  needle  here  Capt.  Sabine  found  to  be  77^ 
40'.  Ilammerfest  was  only  a  hamlet  containing  some 
dozen  houses,  and  our  travelers  were  much  i)lease(l 
with  the  simple  manners  and  kind  hospilality  of  the 
j)eople,  who  were  delighted  Avith  the  idea  of  a  visit 
from  a  man-of-war,  even  if  it  was  no  larger  than  the 
little  Griper.  The  women  were  fair  and  pretty  and 
dressed  nuich  like  English  women.  Remote  from  the 
fashionable  Avorld,  they  were  untainted  with  either 
its  vices  or  follies.  Ileligious  influences  controlled 
the  hamlet  and  deviations  from  the  niles  of  morality 
were  exceedingly  rare.  The  trade  of  the  place  was 
entirely  in  fish  and  oil,  and  reindeer  the  sole  animal. 

Having  finished  his  observation  at  Hammerfest, 


A   CKl'ISK   IN    IIKJII   LATITUDE. 


245 


Sabine  cnibttrkecl  on  the  2.'Ul  of  June  for  Spitzl)ergen 
and  vicinity,  and  on  the  .'JOth  anchored  abreast  of  a 
small  inland,  one  of  the  inner  Norways,  antl  diHeni- 
barked  the  tents  and  inntruinentH.  While  Sabine  wan 
making  his  obnervationH  ln're,  Clavering  determined 
to  sail  northward — to  the  North  Pole  if  posnible, — to 
see  what  he  could  see  in  the  high  latitudes. 

Accordingly,  leaving  six  men  to  assist  Sabine,  and 
six  months'  jn'ovisions  and  fuel  so  that  if  anything 
should  happen  to  the  Griper  the  jdiilosojdier  miglit 
not  starve  or  freeze,  and  a  launch  in  which  he  might 
make  his  way  l)ack  to  Ilanunei-fest,  the  brave  sailor 
steered  <lue  noi*th  on  the  oth  of  July,  with  the  North 
Pole  for  his  destination.  After  sailing  twenty-five 
miles  he  found  himself  embayed  among  ice.  Pro- 
ceeding cautiously,  lie  stnick  on  tlie  Cth  a  field  of 
packed  ice  extending  east  and  west  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  Skirting  the  margin  of  this  fieM  in  a 
line  nearly  west  for  sixty  miles  and  perceiving  no  ap- 
pearance of  an  ojiening,  he  concluded  it  would  be  use- 
less to  make  further  attempt  to  reach  the  Pole  in  this 
region,  and  accordingly  returned  to  Capt.  Sabine  on 
the  nth  of  July.  The  highest  latitude  reached  by 
Clavering  was  80^20'. 

The  magnetic  pendulum  having  swung  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  phih)sopher  and  all  due  observations 
having  been  taken  of  the  stars,  the  Griper  was  stoieil 
M'ith  fifty  reindeer  for  fresh  j^rovisions,  and  heade<l 
for  Gael  Ilamkes'  Bay,  the  highest  p<nnt  known  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  Greenland,  which  they  reached, 
after  many  impediments  from  ice  on  the  8th  of 
August.  A  boat  was  sent  on  shore  at  a  point  Avhich 
they  called  Cape  Warren,  "than  which,"  Clavenng 
says,  "  never  was  there  a  more  desolate  spot  seen. 
Spitzbergen  was  a  paradise  to  this  place." 


l.»! 


t 


246 


ON   THE   EAST   GREENLAND   COAST. 


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1 


■H 


";1 


:  ^    r  i| 


r'- 


Pi'oceeding  along  the  coast  to  the  northward,  among 
floes  of  ice,  they  discovered  two  islands  which  they 
named  Pendulum  Islands.  Having  passed  them, 
Clavering  advanced  northward  till  blocked  ))y  ice  in 
latitude  75^12'.  He  had  now  reached  what  he  c<m- 
ceived  to  he  the  north-east  corner  of  Greenland, 
formed  by  an  island  which  he  named  "  Shannon." 

Returning  to  the  Pendulum  Islands  as  the  best 
place  for  Sabine  to  make  his  observations,  Clavering 
left  the  Griper  and  the  philosopher  there,  and  with 
his  yawl,  wherry,  and  a  party  of  twenty,  started  off 
southward  to  see  what  he  could  see.  At  Cape  War- 
ren they  landed,  and  found  traces  of  natives  and  several 
graves.  Proceeding  up  an  arm  of  the  bay,  a  tent  of 
seal  skins  was  found  on  the  beach,  and  two  natives 
appeared  on  the  heights,  who  seemed  not  to  differ 
from  the  common  race  of  the  Esquimaux.  They  were 
shy  at  first,  but  their  confidence  was  gradually  won. 
The  whole  tribe  numbered  only  twelve.  Great  was 
their  surprise  at  the  firing  of  guns  and  pistols.  One 
of  them  was  induced  to  fire  a  pistol,  and  he  was  so 
frightened  that  he  slunk  away  into  his  tent,  and  the 
following  morning  it  was  found  they  had  all  departed 
leaving  their  tents  and  everything  behind  them, 
doubtless  frightened  away  by  the  magical  effects  of 
gunpowder. 

On  the  29th  of  August,  Clavering  and  party  return- 
ed to  the  Griper,  and  the  philosopher  having  finished 
his  experiments,  all  set  sail  on  the  Slst,  coasting  along 
the  shore  of  Greenland  till  the  13th  of  September. 
The  coast  everywhere  appeared  mountainous,  rising 
up  in  peaks  from  two  to  three  thousand  feet  high. 
The  ice  floes  and  fields  making  it  dangerous  sailing 
near  the  shores,  the  Gr'per  headed  for  Norway,  where 


SCIENTIFIC   PllOBLEMS   SOLVED. 


247 


they  arrived  on  the  23(i  of  September.  At  Dron- 
tlieim  Fiord,  Capt.  Sabine  landed  and  made  further 
experiments ;  the  expedition  then  returned  safely  to 
England  in  December,  after  an  absence  of  seven 
months,  and  after  successfully  accomplishing  the  re- 
sults for  which  it  was  planned. 

The  scientific  results  of  this  and  fonner  expeditions 
of  Captain  Sabine  and  others,  are  thus  summed  up  by 
him.  "  The  attempt  to  determine  the  figure  of  the 
earth,  by  the  variation  of  gravity  at  its  surface,  has 
been  carried  into  full  execution  on  an  arc  of  the  me- 
ridian of  the  greatest  accessible  extent,  and  the  results 
which  it  has  produced  are  seen  to  be  consistent  with 
eacli  other,  in  combinations  too  varied  to  admit  of  the 
correspondence  being  accidental.  They  are  in  fact 
the  cond)inations  of  twenty-eight  stations — thirteen  of 
Captain  Sabine's,  eight  of  the  French  Savan's  and  seven 
of  the  British  Survey.  The  result  is  that  the  length 
of  a  pendulum  vibrating  seconds  at  the  ecjuator  is 
30.0152  inches.  The  increase  of  gravitation  between 
tlie  Equator  and  the  Pole  is  0.202'45,  and  the  ellip- 
ticity  is  4" 

The  second  voyage  of  Capt.  Lyon  to  the  Arctic 
regions  was  undertaken  with  a  view  to  complete  the 
land  survey  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  north  coast 
of  North  America,  from  the  western  shore  of  Melville 
Peninsula  to  Cape  Turn-again,  the  eastern  limit  of 
Franklin's  first  jotirney.  Although  it  did  not  result 
in  any  great  discoveries,  it  illustrates  the  perils  and 
brings  out  in  bright  relief  the  heroic  character  of 
Arctic  navigators.  The  vessel  designated  for  the 
service  was  the  Griper.  She  sailed  from  England  June 
19th,  1824. 
At  the  Orkney  Islands  two  ponies  w^ere  takea 


248 


THE   SNOW-BUNTING. 


'!*  'if 


(►  '^ 


¥ 


n\  1 


ii 


aboard  ;  also  a  cow  and  some  sheep.  The  cow  was 
BO  sea-sick  that  she  refused  to  eat,  and  was  therefore 
eaten ;  but  the  ponies  proved  good  sailors. 

Etirly  in  June,  the  Griper  approached  Kesolution 
Island  at  the  entrance  of  Hudson's  Strait.  Here 
Esquimaux  were  met  who  brought  articles  for  barter. 
Lyon  says,  "  I  blush  when  I  relate  it,  two  of  the  fair 
sex  actually  disposed  of  their  neither  garments." 
On  the  2 2d  of  August  Southampton  Island  was  in 
sight.  When  off  Cape  Pembroke  the  compasses  were 
found  to  be  nearly  useless. 

As  Lyon  was  taking  a  walk  on  shore  one  day  he 
crossed  an  Esquimaux  burial-place,  and  found  the 
grave  of  a  child  slightly  covered  with  stones,  through 
which  a  snow-bunting  had  found  its  way  to  the  neck 
of  the  child  and  there  built  its  nest.  This  bird  is 
considered  by  Arctic  navigators  as  the  robin  of  these 
dreary  regions,  having  all  the  domestic  virtues  of  the 
English  redbreast ;  its  lively  chirp  and  fearless  con- 
fidence have  rendered  it  respected  by  the  most  hun- 
gry sportsman.  An  English  lady  on  reading  this 
incident,  was  inspired  with  the  following  beautiful 
verses : — 

"  Sweet  bird !  the  breast  of  innocence 
Hath  fadeless  charms  for  thee  ; 
Althonsrh  the  spirit  long  has  fled, 
And  lifeless  clay  it  be ; 

Thou  dreadest  not  to  dwell  with  death, 

Secure  from  harm  or  ill, 
For  on  an  infant's  heart,  ihy  nest 

Is  wrought  with  fearless  skill 

And,  like  our  own  familiar  bird 

That  seeks  the  human  friend, 
Thou  clieer'st  the  wanderinjr  seaman's  thoagbts 

With  home,  his  aim  and  end." 

In  Howe's  Welcome  Hay,  the  fog,  heavy  sea,  and 
shallow  water  combined,  made  navigation  most  peril- 


BAT   OF   QOD8   MEIiCT. 


249 


ous.  Of  tlieir  situation  here  Lyon  says:  "I  most 
reluctantly  brought  the  Griper  up  with  three  bow- 
ers and  a  stream  anchor,  but  not  before  we  had 
slioaled  to  five  and  a  half  fathoms,  the  ship  pitching 
bows  under,  and  a  tremendous  sea  running."  The 
]>eril  l)eing  imminent,  the  long  boat  was  prepared  to 
l>e  hoisted  out  with  the  four  small  ones,  and  the 
officers  and  men  drew  lots  with  great  conij)osui'e  for 
their  respective  boats,  although  two  of  the  boats 
Avould  have  been  swamped  the  instant  they  were 
lowered. 

"  Alth<mgh  few  or  none  of  us  had  any  idea  that 
we  should  survive  the  gale,  we  did  not  think  that 
our  comforts  should  be  entirely  neglected,  and  ^n 
order  was  therefore  given  to  the  men  to  put  on  their 
best  and  wai'niest  clothing,  to  enable  them  to  suj)])ort 
lite  as  long  as  possible.  Every  man,  thereibre, 
brought  his  bag  on  deck,  and  dressed  himself;  and  in 
the  fine  athletic  forms  which  stood  exposed  beibre  me,  I 
did  not  see  one  muscle  (piiver,  nor  the  slightest  sign  of 
alarm.  And  now  that  every  thing  in  our  ])ower  had 
been  done,  I  called  all  hands  aft,  and  to  a  merciful 
God  ofl'ered  })rayers  for  our  i)reservation.  I  thankcul 
everv  one  for  their  excellent  conduct,  and  cautioned 
them,  as  we  should  in  all  ])robability  soon  ajjix'ar 
before  our  ]\taker,  to  enter  his  j)resence  as  men 
resigned  to  their  fate.  We  then  all  sat  down  in 
gr()U])s,  and,  sheltered  from  the  wash  of  the  sea  by 
whatever  we  could  find,  many  of  us  endeavored  to 
ol»taiii  a  little  sleep.  Never,  perhajjs,  was  witnessed 
a  liner  scene  than  on  the  deck  of  my  little  shij>,  when 
all  hoj)e  of  life  had  lell  us.  God  was  merciful  to  us  ; 
the  tide  almost  miraculously  fell  no  lower,  the  wind 
ceased  and  we  were  saved."  This  locality  was  very 
properly  named  Bay  of  God's  Mercy. 


I 


ill  .1 


'  i 


;l 


P  iil  \\\r: 


Im'' 


^W- 


\U 


y 


250 


APPIIOACII   TO    KA5ICIIATKA. 


A  similar  storm  occurred  in  September,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  Wager's  River,  dui'ing  which  one 
anchor  after  another  parted,  and  the  vessel  drifted 
away  in  the  darkness,  but  escai)ed  wreck.  The  sit- 
uation, however,  was  still  a  precarious  one,  and  with- 
out anchors  and  in  a  crippled  condition,  the  ship  was 
headed  for  England  where  it  arrived  in  November. 

The  object  of  Captain  Beeehey's  expedition  to 
Bering's  Straits  in  1825,  was  not  so  much  for  the 
purposes  of  discovery  as  to  render  assistance  to  Parry 
and  Franklin,  and  especially  to  the  latter — who  was 
then  on  his  second  land  expedition — should  he  be 
successful  in  Avorking  westward  from  the  Mackenzie 
River  to  Kotzebue  Sound,  the  place  of  rendezvous  for 
both  explorers. 

Beechey  sailed  from  England  in  the  sloop  Blossom, 
May  19th,  1825,  with  instructions  to  proceed  around 
Ca])e  Horn,  visit  the  English  possessions  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  arrive  at  the  rendezvous  by  July, 
1820,  there  to  remain  till  the  approach  of  winter,  in 
case  neither  Franklin  nor  Parry  were  heard  from. 
Late  in  June  1826,  the  Blossom  api)roached  Petro- 
])aulski,  after  having  sailed  seven  hundred  miles  in  a 
dense  fog,  which  now  cleared  up  and  revealed  the 
lofty  mountains  and  volcanoes  of  Kamchatka.  "  Noth- 
ing could  surpass  the  serenity  of  the  evening,  or  the 
magnificence  of  the  mountains  capped  with  perennial 
snows,  rising  in  majestic  array  above  each  other.  The 
volcano  emitted  smoke  occasionally,  and  from  a 
sprinkling  of  black  dots  on  the  snow  to  the  leeward 
of  the  crater,  we  concluded  there  had  been  a  recent 
eruption." 

At  Petropaulski,  Beechey  found  dispatches  announ- 
cing the  return  of  the  expedition  under  Parry.     Cor- 


R 


f 
C 


W 


al 


a 


lut 


in- 


I 


il.:---^. 


i'    U 


f. 


^W"^***"" 


dial 
by  i 
comj 
that 
End 
sentc 
Oi 
Lawi 
out  i 
lady 
upon 
peltr; 
cauti( 

it,  an( 

a  goc 

woulc 

trade 

the  g 

of  tii( 

eles  li 

suspic 

if  the 

of  the 

those 

h.'inds 

Bee 

tlie  tv 

still  n 

Arctic 

Avhen 

below 

northe 

contin( 


TIIE  LAWRENCE-ISLANDERS. 


251 


dial  was  the  hospitality  extended  to  the  explorers 
by  the  citizens  of  the  little  town,  and  the  i)aHtor,  in 
compliance  with  the  injunctions  of  his  grandfather, 
that  he  sliould  send  a  calf  to  the  captain  of  every 
English  man-of-war  that  miglit  arrive  in  tlie  port,  pre- 
sented Beeehey  with  one  of  his  own  rearing. 

On  the  voyage  north  the  Blossom  st<)]i])ed  off 
Lawrence  Island,  and  the  natives  innncdiatcly  came 
out  in  boats,  evidently  anxious  for  a  trade.  One  old 
lady  amused  the  crew  by  her  attempts  to  impose 
upon  their  credulity.  She  was  seated  upon  a  bag  of 
l>eltry,  from  which  she  now  and  then  drew  out  a  skin, 
cautiously  exhil)ited  the  best  part  of  it  with  a  look 
implying  that  it  was  of  great  value,  repeatedly  hugged 
it,  and  endeavored  to  coax  her  new  accpiaintances  into 
a  good  bargain ;  but  it  was  easy  to  see  that  her  furs 
would  not  bear  close  examination.  The  tricks  of 
trade  are  not  confined  to  civilization.  Tobacco  was 
the  great  want  of  the  men,  and  needles  and  scissors 
of  the  women,  and  with  both  l)lue  beads  were  aiii- 
cles  highly  esteemed.  They,  however,  seemed  a  little 
suspicious  of  the  Latter,  and  bit  them,  possibly  to  see 
if  they  were  made  of  wax.  The  mode  of  salutation 
of  these  natives  was  by  rubbing  their  noses  against 
those  of  their  friends  and  drawing  tli(i  palms  of  their 
hfmds  over  the  face. 

Beeehey  passed  Bering's  Strait,  which  sei)aratos 
the  two  great  continents,  on  one  of  those  beautiful 
still  nights  well  known  to  all  who  hav^e  visite<l  the 
Arctic  regions,  when  the  sky  is  without  a  cloud,  and 
when  the  midnight  sun,  scarcely  his  own  diameter 
below  the  horizon,  tinges  Avith  a  bright  hue  all  the 
northern  circle.  The  extremities  of  the  two  great 
continents  were  distinctly  seen,  and  the  islands  in  the 


0 


9  <; 


;f 


■;i,  , 

•A-    ' 

m 


■if'    .-J. 


ir  '-' 


252 


CUSTOMS    OF   THE   AL^VSKANS. 


'ri 


Sf..  . 


strait  clearly  ascertained  to  be  only  three,  as  liad 
been  stated  by  Capt.  Cook. 

A  little  noi'th  of  Cape  Prince  of  "Wales,  they  were 
again  visited  by  the  natives  who  were  eager  for  irada 
and  willingly  sold  everything  they  had,  except  their 
bows  and  arrows.  They  were  noisy  and  ever  ready 
for  a  joke.  They  had  a  curious  appendage  to  their 
dress,  worn  as  an  ornament  in  the  shape  of  a  bird's 
winsT  or  the  tail  of  a  fox,  tied  to  the  end  of  a  striiii; 
fastened  to  their  girdles,  which  dangled  behind  as 
they  walked,  giving  them  a  ridiculous  appearance, 
and  probably  occasioning  the  rejiort,  recorded  by 
some  traveler,  that  the  people  of  this  country  have 
tails  like  dogs.  To  this  dog-tail  slander,  they  might 
perhaps  retort  that  civilized  women  had  camel's 
humps  on  their  backs. 

At  Schismareff  Inlet  were  seen  the  lip  ornaments 
common  to  this  coast.  They  consist  of  j)ieces  of  ivory, 
stone  or  glass,  formed  with  double  heads,  like  sleeve 
buttons,  which  are  inserted  in  holes  bored  in  tlie 
under  lip  about  half  <an  inch  below  the  corners  of  tlio 
mouth.  The  diameter  of  the  orifice  in  those  worn 
by  adults  is  usually  about  half  an  inch,  but  Boeoliey 
saw  one  lip  button  made  of  polished  jade  stone,  that 
was  three  inches  in  length  and  an  inch  and  a  half  in 
width. 

On  the  22d  of  July,  Beechey  reached  his  rendezvous, 
Chamisso  Island  in  Kotzebue  Sound,  but  could  find  no 
traces  of  Franklin. 

Leaving  the  barge  to  keep  in  shore  on  the  look-out 
for  Franklm,  Beechey  sailed  northward  as  far  as  Icy 
Cape.  Finding  indications  of  the  ice  closing  in,  he 
then  returned  to  the  sound  and  dispatched  the  barge 
under  the  command  of  Messrs.  Elson  and  Smyth  with 


•\Vi:i:CK   OF  THE    BAROE. 


253 


instructions  to  trace  the  coast  to  the  North-east  na  fur 
as  they  couhl  j)enetrate.  Tliey  succeeded  in  survey- 
ing one  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles  of  new  co.ist,  and 
were  stopped  hy  a  h)ng,  h)w,  projecting  tongue  of 
land  which  tney  named  Point  Barrow.  Here  they 
were  witliin  one  hundred  and  forty-six  miles  of  the 
extreme  point  reached  by  Franklin. 

By  the  middle  of  Octoher  the  Escjuimaux  liad  all 
de])arted  to  their  winter-cpiarters,  the  hirds  had 
migrated,  the  sea  was  rai)idly  heing  frozen,  and 
Beechey  sailed  for  San  Francisco  where  he  wintered. 

In  the  following  season,  Beechey  returned  to 
Chamisso  Island,  where  he  anchored  August  5th. 
Here  the  Large  was  again  called  into  r('<piisition,  and 
under  command  of  Lieutenant  Belcher,  it  started 
north  and  reached  a  ])oint  some  forty  miles  easterly 
of  Icy  Cape,  hut  could  go  no  further  in  consecpience 
of  the  ice.  On  the  way  back  Belcher  stopped  at 
Choris  Peninsula  to  erect  an  observatory.  While 
all  the  party  but  two  were  on  shore,  a  gale  sprung 
up.  The  crew  were  immediately  ordered  aboard  and 
one  ti'ip  of  the  small  boat  landed  three  persons  on 
the  barge,  but  an  attempt  to  reach  it  a  second  time 
Mas  unsuccessful.  The  vessel  soon  sunk  in  shallow 
water,  and  two  of  her  crew  were  drowned  in  attempt- 
ing to  reach  shore.  The  others  retreated  to  the 
rigging,  but  one  fell  and  perished;  the  other  two 
were  rescued  after  the  sea  subsided. 

Meantime,  Beechey  had  been  on  an  excursion  in  the 
Blossom,  and  when  returning  to  the  rendezvous,  dis- 
covered with  telescopes  a  flag  flying  on  the  coast  and 
two  men  waving  white  cloths.  The  possil)ility  of  its 
being  Franklin's  party  was  the  first  wish  of  his  mind ; 
but  this  was  soon  dispelled  as  a  nearer  view  of  the 


I 


I!    r 


■';■  I' 


ti« 


254 


SKIRMISHES    WITH   THE   NATIVES. 


flacj  proved  it  to  be  the  ensign  of  liis  own  boat 
hoisted  Avith  the  union  downward  indicative  of  dis- 
tress, and  Bek'lier  and  his  surviving  men  were  soon  rec- 
ognized and  cared  for.  They  had  experienced  some 
trouble  with  the  natives  after  the  h>ss  of  their  barge, 
and  subsecjuently  the  civw  of  the  Blossom  liad  wkir- 
mishe?«,  Asith  them  in  which  several  of  the  seamen 
were  wounded  by  arrows,  and  one  or  more  of  thc! 
Esquimaux  killed.  Beechey  did  not  punish  them  as 
they  deserved,  as  he  was  unwilling  to  awaken  senti- 
ments which  might  prove  injurious  to  other  Euro- 
peans. 

The  balance  of  the  season  was  passed  in  futile 
attempts  to  find  Franklin,  and  grieved  and  disap- 
pointed, Capt.  Beechey  left  KotzeV)ue's  Sound,  Oct.  Cth, 
1827;  but  did  not  arrive  in  England  till  the  autumn 
of  1828,  having  been  absent  three  and  a  half  years. 


m 


If 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
PARRY'S  POLAR  VOYAGE. 

The  scheme  of  reaching  the  Pole  by  traveling  over 
the  frozen  surface  of  the  ocean  was  first  suggesti'il  hy 
Mr.  ScoresLy.  He  believed  that  the  Polar  Sea  in 
some  meridians  presented  one  continuous  sheet  of  tol- 
erahly  smooth  ice,  which  could  be  traversed  without 
^roat  difficulty.  The  idea  was  taken  uji  by  Capt. 
Parry,  whose  brilliant  voyages  to  the  North-west  had 
led  him  to  suspect  that  further  ])rogress  in  that  di- 
rection was  hopeless,  and  an  expedition  was  fitted  out 
which  left  England,  April  4th,  1827,  in  the  sloop 
lied  a. 

The  plan  was  to  proceed  in  this  vessel  as  ftir  north 
as  possible,  when  a  portion  of  the  crew  weie  to  leave 
the  shiji,  Avith  two  boats  on  runners,  which  were  to 
be  dragged  or  navigated  as  circumstances  might 
admit,  over  the  unknown  and  desolate  expanse  be- 
tween Spitzbergen  and  the  Pole.  These  boats  were 
twenty  feet  long  and  seven  broad,  with  runners  at- 
tached to  each  side  of  the  keel  so  that  they  could  be 
drawn  on  the  ice  like  sleds.  Wheels  were  also  taken 
along  for  use,  if  practicable. 

At  Hammerfest  eight  noble  reindeer  were  taken 
on  board  ship,  with  which  the  adventurers  hoped  to 
make  a  stage  journey  to  the  Pole.     As  each  boat  with 

255 


.1     '•' 


i. 


ii 


iw 


^«^l 


unmn 


im 

1 

\ 

mi 

^ 

K 

yi 

P 

1 

1 

1 

250 


I'AUUV    AND    HIS    DEER. 


I    fi 


J      ■■'    ■ 


I  ifi 


I*  M  , 


t-Jh.! 


bi    .!;: 


its  cargo  wcij^luvl  nearly  two  tons,  a  four-in-liand  team 
would  certainly  l»c  an  aitl  on  the  icy  road.  At  all  events 
tlie  deer  served  to  beguile  the  tediousness  of  the  pas- 
sage to  Spitzbergen,  and  all  hands  became  much  attach- 
ed to  them.  Tlie  reguhir  allowance  of  clean  moss  i'or 
each  deer  was  lour  |>ounds  daily,  but  in  case  of  neces- 
sity they  would  go  iive  or  six  days  without  jnov- 
cnder  and  not  sulVer  nuiterlally.  Theadaj)tion  of  these 
aninuds  to  the  Friijrid  Zone  is  wonderful.  Snow  is 
their  favorite  drink, — if  the  bull  may  be  j)ardone(l, — 
and  cold,  hard  ice  is  as  comfortable  andel.istic  a  bed 
as  they  desire;  at  least  they  never  comjdain  when  fur- 
nished with  such  slee])ing  accommodations,  canopied 
over  by  the  vaulted  arch  of  heaven. 

Parry  was  enamored  with  his  deer — the  only  draw- 
back to  his  happiness  being  the  thought  that  dire  ne- 
cessity might  compel  him  and  his  crew  to  eat  them. 

The  Ilecla  rounded  Ilakluyt's  Headland  May  14th, 
and  met  with  a  tremendous  gale  which  almost  lay  the 
ship  on  her  beam  ends,  and  tossed  her  like  a  feather; 
and  she  was  soon  completely  Ijcset  by  a  lai'ge  floe 
which  carried  her  eastward.  After  release  from  this 
tedious  imprisonment  of  twenty-four  days,  came  along 
and  anxious  search  for  a  secure  harbor. 

At  length  the  Ilecla  was  anchored  in  a  fine  harbor 
^vhich  the  Dutch  had  named  Treurenberg  Bay,  Init 
now  rechristened  as  Hecla  Cove.  Numerous  graves 
were  found  on  the  shore.  The  bodies  had  been  depos- 
ited in  oblong  boxes  and  covered  with  stones :  a  board 
near  the  head  recording  the  name  of  the  deceased  and 
the  time  of  his  death.  C  ne  was  dated  as  far  back  as 
1090,  and  Parry  was  right  in  conjecturing  that  the 
Dutch  name  of  the  bay  was  derived  from  treuren,  to 
lament,  on  account  of  the  mortality  which  Lad  oc- 


THE  START  FOU  THE  POLE. 


257 


curred  here.  Tliis  was  not  cncournging  to  tlu;  pni'ty 
who  were  to  remain  with  the  nhij),  but  there 
was  no  time  to  be  lost,  and  brave  sailors  must  not  be 
frightened  by  graves  or  ghostly  shadows. 

On  the  22d  of  June  the  excursion  i)arty  left  the 
ship  amid  the  cheers  of  their  associates.  The  boats 
were  severally  commanded  by  Parry  and  James  C. 
Ross.  Lt.  Crozier,  after »,ards  second  in  connnand  of 
the  lost  Franklin  expedition,  was  one  of  the  officers 
who  remained  with  thellecla.  Provision  forstnenty 
days  were  taken  along,  but  the  "eight tiny  reindeer" 
were  left  behind,  with  the  wheels,  Parry  having  seen 
enou};!i  of  the  miffed  surface  of  the  ice  to  convince 
him  that  they  would  be  of  more  use  to  Santa  Clans 
than  to  himself.  What  became  of  these  animals  which 
had  so  much  interested  Parry,  he  omits  to  mention. 
The  stern  realities  of  the  Northern  Sea  probably 
drove  all  sentimentalism  from  his  mind. 

For  eighty  miles  they  proceeded  due  north,  sailing 
slowly  through  a  calm  and  smooth  oj)en  sea.  In  lati- 
tude 81®  12^  51 ''they  were  stoj)ped  by  slush  ice,  which 
could  neither  be  walked  nor  sailed  ovei-,  but  was  to  be 
passed  by  the  two  methods  alternately.  Here  com- 
menced the  real  labor  of  their  fatiguing  and  monot- 
onous journey. 

The  first  step  was  to  convert  night  into  day ;  to 
begin  their  journey  in  the  evening  and  end  it  in  the 
morning.  Thus  their  notions  of  night  and  day  became 
inverted.  They  rose  in  what  they  called  the  morning, 
but  which  was  really  late  in  the  evening,  and  having 
performed  their  devotions,  breakfasted  on  warm  co- 
coa and  biscuit.  They  then  drew  on  their  boots, 
usually  either  wet  or  hard  frozen ;  and  which,  though 
perfectly  diied,  would  have  been  equally  soaked  in 


lilr 


r" 


{f-^ 


||i 


i'.  *,^ 


•  1.1 


J 


258 


A  JOURNEY   ON  ICE. 


M 


r-  I    i 


id  I  a 


1 1!  11 


fifteen  minutes.  The  party  then  traveled  five  or  six 
hours,  and  a  little  after  midnight  stopped  to  dine. 

They  now  performed  an  equal  journey  in  what  was 
called  the  afternoon ;  and  in  the  evening,  that  is,  at 
an  advanced  morninr;  hour,  halted  as  for  the  niirht. 
They  then  appi'ed  themselves  to  obtain  rest  and 
comfort,  put  on  dry  stockings  and  fur-boots,  cooked 
something  warm  for  supper,  smoked  their  pipes,  told 
over  their  exploits,  and,  forgetting  the  toils  of  the 
day,  enjoyed  an  interval  of  ease  and  gayety.  Then, 
wrapping  them-elves  in  their  fur-cloaks,  they  lay  down 
in  the  boat,  rather  too  close  together  jierhaps,  Init 
with  very  tolerable  comfort.  The  sound  of  a  bugle 
roused  them  at  night  to  their  breakfast  of  cocoa,  and 
to  a  repetition  of  the  same  round. 

Instead  of  a  smooth,  level  surface,  which  they  ex- 
pected to  find,  over  which  a  coach  might  be  driven, 
the  ice  f^onsisted  of  small,  loose  and  ruir2;ed  masses, 
compelling  the  men  to  make  two  or  three  trips  in 
order  to  bring  up  the  boats  and  baggage.  One  day 
during  heavy  rain  they  advanced  but  lialf  a  mile  in 
four  hours.  In  short,  it  was  found,  by  an  observation 
taken  at  midnight  on  the  30th  of  June,  that  since  they 
started  on  the  ice,  on  the  25th,  they  liad  jirogressed 
nortliward  only  about  twelv^e  miles.  All  expectation  of 
reaching  the  Pole  was  now  relinquished,  but  hopes  of 
reacliinii;  the  83d  de<2;ree  were  entertained. 

The  party  came  at  length  to  smoother  ice  and  larger 
floes,  and  making  better  progress,  persevered  till  the 
20tli  of  July,  when  they  were  mortified  to  find  that 
their  latitude  was  less  than  five  miles  to  the  north- 
ward of  where  it  was  on  the  17th,  although  they  had 
certainly  traveled  twelve  miles  in  that  direction.  Parry 
began  now  to  suspect  that  the  ice  was  floating  south- 


DRIFTING   SOUTH. 


259 


■ward,  and  that  they  were  in  the  condition  of  the  frog 
jumping  out  of  a  well,  which  jumped  tliree  feet  and 
fell  back  two.  Such  a  suspicion  was  disheartening  to 
the  officers,  but  was  not  communicated  to  the  men 
who  often  laughingly  remarked,  "  We  are  a  long  time 
getting  to  this  eighty-third  degree." 

On  the  2Gtli  they  were  only  one  mile  further  north 
than  they  were  on  the  2 1st,  though  they  had  in  that 
time  traveled  ixorthward  twenty-three  miles  ;  thus  it 
was  ascertained  that  the  southern  drift  of  the  ice  ^^'as 
at  the  rate  of  over  four  miles  per  day.  Parry  con- 
cluded it  was  useless  to  persevere  in  the  attempt  even 
to  reach  the  88d  parallel,  and  communicated  the  facts 
and  his  intentions  to  the  men.  Great  had  lieen  their 
exertions,  and  great  was  their  disappointment.  They 
consoled  themselves  however  with  the  belief^hat  they 
had  gone  fui-ther  noi'th  than  any  previous  explorers. 
The  highest  latitude  reached  was  82°-i0',  which  is  a 
trifle  farther  north  than  the  Polaris  penetrated  on  her 
late  trip.  Their  greatest  distance  from  the  Ilecla  was 
only  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  miles,  but  to  ac- 
complish it  they  had  probably  traveled  far  enough  to 
reach  the  Pole,  as  they  had  so  many  times  ti'ebled 
their  track.  , 

Nothing?  remarkable  occurred  on  the  return. 
It  was  no  small  satisfaction  to  the  explorers  to  know 
that  there  would  be  no  backsliding  and  that  every 
mile  of  advance  southward  would  count  two  or  three 
miles.  They  arrived  at  Hecla  Cove  on  the  21st  of 
August,  where  they  were  received,  says  Parry,  "  with 
that  warm  and  cordial  welcome  which  can  be  felt 
but  not  described.  Considering  our  constant  expos- 
ure to  wet,  cold  and  fiitigue,  our  stockings  having 
been  generally  drenched  in  snow  water  for  twelve 


M)| 


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11  -'i     f    :       1 


260 


RETURN   TO   HECLA    COVE. 


hours  out  of  every  twenty-four,  I  had  great  reason 
to  be  thankful  for  the  excellent  health  in  which  upon 
the  whole  we  reached  the  ship." 

The  Hecla  soon  afterward  sailed  for  England,  and 
thus  ended  the  first  and  only  attempt  that  has  been 
made  to  penetrate  to  the  Pole  over  the  frozen  surface 
of  the  deep.  All  the  jirowess,  energy,  and  hardihood 
of  British  seamen  were  exerted  to  the  utmost  without 
making  even  an  approach  towards  the  fulfillment  of 
their  object.  The  late  Captain  Hall  hoped  to  reach 
the  Pole  by  a  sled  journey  over  the  ice  and  land, 
starting  from  the  highest  point  that  the  Polaris  could 
obtain ;  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  if  he  had  lived 
to  make  the  attempt,  it  would  have  proved  an  unsuc- 
cessful if  not  disastrous  one.  The  Pole  is  a  reality, 
and  some  benefit  to  science  w^ould  accrue  from  obser- 
vations taken  thereon  ;  but  we  may  as  well  conclude 
that  when  God  gave  man  dominion  over  the  whole 
earth,  that  locality  Mas  not  included  or  was  considered 
unworthy  of  his  presence. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ARCTIC   EXPEDITION   OF  JOHN  AND  JAMES 

C.  ROSS. 

John  Ross,  whose  Expedition  made  under  the  au- 
spices of  th'^  British  Admiralty  in  1818  was  sorely 
criticised  by  the  press  and  pronounced  a  failure,  was 
not  content  to  remain  in  inglorious  ease,  but  felt  an 
ambition  so  common  to  adventurers,  to  try  his  fortune 
once  more.  Ross's  faith  in  the  North-west  passaj2;e  never 
was  very  great ;  and  the  second  expedition  seems  to 
have  been  undertaken  more  from  a  love  of  adventure 
and  a  desire  to  retrieve  his  good  name,  than  from  any 
well-grounded  hope  of  success  in  its  professed  object. 
The  perseverance  and  energy  displayed  in  carrying  it 
out  were  worthy  of  better  results  than  it  actually  ac- 
complished. 

From  his  experience  in  his  first  Arctic  adventure, 
and  from  careful  study  of  the  voyages  of  others,  Ross 
became  convinced  that  a  small  steamship  would  make 
better  headway  among  the  floes  and  fields  of  ice  than 
a  sailing  vessel ;  and  accordingly  presented  his  views 
to  t!ie  Admiralty  as  early  as  1827,  asking  government 
aid  for  his  new  project.  This  proposal  was  not  favor- 
ably received,  and  he  then  applied  to  his  friend.  Sir 
Felix  Booth,  a  wealthy  gentleman,  who  listened  kindly 
to  his  statements,  but  finally  decided  not  to  embark 

261 


f' 


,1  ;■ 


w- 


m 


n 


n 


«i 


::''  !! 


kN 


^  .•';»': 


lija 

MM 


,    I 


lit 


,  i..; 


262 


SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF   JOHN    IIOS.S. 


,■!'■  r 


^,^;: 


■j  '*« 


■\'7 


in  the  enterprise,  lest  it  might  he  construed  by  the 
public  as  a  mere  mercanlile  speculation,  in  hopes  of 
securing  the  reward  of  £20,000  ollered  by  Parliament 
for  the  discovery  of  the  North-west  passage. 

Not  baffled  by  this  second  rebuff,  Ross  again  applied 
to  the  Admiralty,  submitting  a  modified,  and  as  he 
thought,  an  improved  plan  of  navigating  the  Arctic 
Seas  by  means  of  steam.  Tlie  decided  answer  of  the 
Admiralty  was : — "  Government  docs  not  intend  to 
send  out  any  more  expeditions  on  this  enquiry." 

Soon  after  this  Parliament  revoked  its  oiler  of  £20,- 
000,  which  had  tempted  so  many  adventurers  into  the 
Polar  Seas.  This  removed  Booth's  objection  to  aiding 
Ross,  and  he  advanced  the  money  necessary  to  buy 
and  fit  out  the  Victory,  a  steamer  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  tons.     The  whole  cost  was  £17,000. 

With  his  nephew,  James  Clark  Ross,  as  commander,  a 
purser,  surgeon,  and  a  crew  of  seventeen,  Ross  steamed 
down  the  Thames  on  the  23d  of  May,  1 829.  The  steam 
fixtures  did  not  prove  to  be  as  efiicient  as  he  expected, 
and  his  main  reliance  for  the  trans-atlantic  voyage  and 
indeed  for  the  whole  expedition,  was  upon  sails. 

On  the  23d  of  July  the  Victory  came  to  anchor  in 
the  harbor  of  Holsteinberg,  a  Danish  settlement  on  the 
coast  of  Greenland,  and  was  soon  surrounded  by  ca- 
noes filled  Avith  Esquimaux,  among  whom  were  two 
whites  clothed  like  the  natives,  who  proved  to  be  Mr. 
Kail,  the  governor,  and  Mr.  Kijer,  a  clergyman,  both 
well  educated  gentlemen  who  had  resided  in  the  country 
for  six  years.  At  the  house  of  the  latter  the  oflicers  of 
the  Victory  were  treated  with  great  kindness,  Mrs.  Kijer 
doing  the  honors  at  the  table,  and  Esquimaux  girls,  neat- 
ly dressed  in  native  costume,  doing  the  service.  The 
settlement  consisted  of  the  governor's  and  clergyman's 


LIFE    AT     IIOLSTEIXBERG. 


263 


houses,  a  cliurch,  two  store-houses,  and  about  forty  Es- 
quimaux huts.  The  church  was  a  neat  simple  struc- 
ture, surmounted  with  a  small  steeple,  and  havini,^  an 
audience-room  furnished  with  an  organ  and  seats 
for  two  hundred  persons.  Ilolsteinberg  is  a  roman- 
tic and  interesting  place,  but  the  governor  and 
clergyman  must  have  led  self-denying  lives  in  this 
solitude,  away  from  all  the  social  privileges  of  civili- 
zation. Peace  and  happiness  are  however  of  no  coun- 
try or  situation,  and  here  in  this  narrow  and  appa- 
rently contented  circle  they  seemed  to  exist  in  per- 
fection. No  disorderly  or  immoral  conduct  was 
noticed  among  the  natives ;  and  Mr.  Kijer  represented 
the  Greenlanders  as  so  pacific  in  their  dispositions 
that  quarrels  among  them  were  very  rare. 

As  an  instance  of  their  honesty,  Capt.  Ross  relates 
that  on  the  morning  of  his  departure  from  Ilolstein- 
berg, a  poor  Esquimaux  came  alongside  of  the  Victory, 
bringing  an  oar  which  had  been  lost  from  one  of  the 
boats,  and  adds :  "  I  know  not  how  fir  the  exertions 
of  the  worthy  clergyman  deserve  to  share  in  the  merit 
of  this  and  the  other  good  conduct  which  we  witnessed, 
but  be  this  as  it  may,  I  do  but  justice  to  the  natural 
character  of  this  race,  almost  everywhere  in  our  experi- 
ence, to  say  that  they  are  among  the  most  worthy 
of  all  the  rude  triljes  yet  known  to  our  voyagers  in 
any  part  of  the  world." 

The  singing  of  the  Esquimaux  girls  in  church  as- 
tonished and  delighted  the  captain,  and  he  was  assured 
that  they  learned  to  sing  the  most  refined  sacred  mu- 
sic of  the  German  school  with  great  facility,  and  the 
Moravian  missionaries  have  made  music  a  powerful 
auxiliary  in  religious  instruction  and  civilization. 
Some  of  the  Esquimaux  have  not  only  been  taught 

16 


1   |.. 


'■•  \  i  I 


i '  % 


fk 


liir 


Hi 


,.|*||; 


^i  I 


III  ' 


\ ^'    ft- 


264 


SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    JOHN    ROSS. 


to  sing,  but  to  play,  and  construct  their  o^vn  instru- 
ments. 

On  the  7th  of  August  the  Victory  stcamorl  into 
Lancaster  Sound.  The  sea  was  covered  witli  minute 
marine  animals  and  ducks,  and  gulls  Avere  in  sight; 
no  ice  of  any  kind  was  to  be  seen.  Ross  proceeded 
westerly,  till  he  reached  Prince  ^Regent  Inlet,  into 
which  he  turned  his  ship  and  sailed  southerly  in  search 
of  the  place  Avhere  the  Fury  was  wrecked,  lioping  to 
replenish  his  stock  of  provisions  from  her  stores. 

On  the  13th  of  August  the  Victory  entered  a  bay, 
which  was  christened  Adelaide  in  honor  of  the  Duchess 
of  Clarence,  it  being  her  birtli-day.  On  the  afternoon 
of  the  next  day.  Commander  Ross,  who  had  been  the 
lieutenant  of  the  Fury,  recognized  a  high-projectiui;' 
precipice  as  being  some  three  miles  from  the  wreck, 
for  which  all  eyes  were  looking ;  and,  an  hour  after- 
ward, the  tents  were  seen  on  the  mound  Avhere  the 
shipwrecked  stores  had  been  deposited.  The  same 
evening  the  Victory  was  safely  moored  in  an  ice  har- 
bor, within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the   coveted  goods. 

The  coast  was  found  almost  lined  with  coal;  and  one 
tent — the  mess-tent  of  the  Fury's  oflicers — remained 
whole,  though  it  was  evident  the  bears  had  paid  it 
frequent  visits.  A  pocket  near  the  door  of  this  tent, 
in  which  Commander  Ross  had  left  his  memorandum- 
book,  was  missing.  The  preserved  meats  and  vegeta- 
bles were  found  in  good  condition.  The  canisters 
had  been  piled  up  in  two  heaps,  and  though  exposed 
to  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  climate  for  four  years, 
they  had  not  suffered  in  the  slightest  degree.  There 
had  been  no  water  to  rust  them,  and  the  security  of 
the  joinhigs  had  prevented  the  bears  from  smelling 
the  contents.  Had  they  known  the  feast  of  fat  things 
contained  within  those  shining  tins,  not  much  would 


THE    WRECK    OF    THE    YVllY. 


2G5 


have  remained  for  the  crew  of  the  Victory.  The  wine, 
sugar,  bread,  flour,  and  cocoa,  were  found  in  equally 
good  condition.  The  lime-juice  and  the  pickles  had 
not  suffered  much,  and  even  the  salis  were  not  only 
dry,  but  looked  ns  if  they  had  never  been  wet.  Not 
a  trace  of  the  hull  of  the  Fury  was  to  be  found. 

The  stores,  not  the  wreck,  Mere  what  Capt.  Ross 
wanted.  With  great  delight  the  crew  set  about  em- 
barking a  sufficiency  of  stores  to  complete  the  equip- 
ment of  the  Victory  for  over  two  years.  This  fitting 
out  a  vessel  in  an  abandoned  region  of  ice  and  ro;  ks, 
was  a  novel  scene.  Without  money  and  without  price 
the  crew  carried  on  board  the  Victory  canister  after 
canister  of  provisions,  and  yet  all  they  could  store  away 
on  board  seemed  scarcely  to  diminish  the  pile.  Ten 
tons  of  coal,  some  anchors,  and  some  carpenter's  stores 
were  also  appropriated.  The  powder  nuigazine  had 
become  unroofed,  but  the  patent  cases  had  kept  the 
powder  perfectly  dry,  and  with  a  portion  of  this  the 
new  outfit  was  ended. 

Captain  Ross'  plan  was  to  make  a  thorough  survey 
of  Prince  Regent's  Inlet,  and  ascertr.in  whether  thero 
was  any  outlet  from  it  to  the  Polar  Sea ;  he  therefore 
proceeded  from  Fury  Beach  southward.  The  voyage 
now  began  to  acquire  its  pecidiar  interest  as  the  Victory 
was  traversing  a  comparatively  unknown  region.  The 
land  seemed  to  extend  in  a  south-west  direction  con- 
tinuously, and  the  captain  gave  it  the  name  of  Boothia, 
in  honor  of  his  patron.  Many  whales  came  clo.  e  to 
the  ship,  thus  proving  that  they  had  never  had  a  taste 
of  the  harpoon. 

The  geological  structure  was  limestone,  containing 
shells.  Some  sandstone  and  gneiss  were  also  observed, 
and  in  many  of  the  small  bays,  there  were  accumular 


I"  k  K 


!■■ 


t  . 


«*■  ;  I 


266 


SE«;()NU     LXrEDlTlON     OF    JOHN     ROSS. 


•I 


vy 


tiona  of  snnd.  The  soundings  were  in  clay,  so  tounli 
as  to  re(|iiire  great  force  to  extract  the  lead  from  it. 
There  was  no  wood  ;  a  heath  with  stems  about  an  inch 
thick,  being  the  largest  plant  growing. 

A  harbor  was  found  sufficiently  deep  and  large  to 
accommodate  the  whole  British  navy,  and  to  this  was 
given  the  name  of  Elizabeth,  in  compliment  to  a  sis- 
ter of  Mr.  Booth.  In  many  parts  of  it  there  were 
five  fathoms  of  water  close  to  rocks  or  shore,  wIrmc 
vessels  might  lie  as  at  a  pier ;  and  from  marks  on  the 
rocks  it  was  judged  that  the  spring-tide  rose  eight 
feet.  Near  the  sea  the  land  was  generally  bare,  but 
inland  there  were  plains  and  valleys  of  considerable 
extent  covered  with  vegetation.  In  the  valleys  were 
numerous  lakes,  some  of  them  two  miles  long,  and 
all  well  stocked  with  fish.  As  the  season  advanced 
navigation  became  more  and  more  difficult  and  haz- 
ardous. The  Victory  drawing  but  a  few  feet  of  water, 
had  great  advantage  in  navigating  the  Arctic  Seas,  but 
still  her  perils  were  many.  Captain  Ross  thus  graph' 
ically  describes  the  appearance  of  those  seas. 

"  To  those  who  have  not  seen  a  northern  ocean  in 
winter,  the  term  ice,  exciting  but  the  recollection  of 
what  they  know  of  it  at  rest  in  an  inland  lake,  con- 
veys no  idea  of  what  it  is  the  fate  of  the  Arc 
tic  navigator  to  witness.  But  let  them  remem])er  that 
ice  is  stone,  a  floating  rock  in  a  stream,  a  promontory 
or  an  island  when  aground,  not  less  solid  than  if  it 
were  granite.  Then  let  them  imagine,  if  they  can, 
these  mountains  of  crystal,  hurled  through  a  narrow 
strait  by  a  rapid  tide ;  meeting  as  mountains  would 
meet,  with  the  noise  of  thunder,  breaking  from  each 
other  precipices,  huge  fragments,  or  rending  each 
other  asunder,  till,  losing    their  former  equilibrium, 


FROZEN    IN. 


207 


they  fall  over  headlong,  lifting  the  sea  around  in  break- 
ers, and  whirling  it  in  eddies,  while  the  llutter  fields 
of  ice,  forced  against  these  masses,  or  against  the 
rocks  by  the  wind  and  stream,  rise  out  of  the  seji  (ill 
they  fall  back  on  themselves,  adding  tg  the  indescrib- 
able commotion  and  noise  which  attend  these  occur- 
rences." 

On  the  last  day  of  September  Captain  lloss  deter- 
mined that  further  progress  was  impossible  for  the 
season,  and  that  his  next  duty  was  to  look  out  for 
winter  quarters.  An  inevitable  detention  among  im- 
movable ico  made  his  men  feel  like  captives  upon 
whom  the  prison  doors  were  being  closed  for  long  and 
weary  months.  Making  an  inland  excursion,  he  as- 
cended a  high  liill  to  take  a  general  survey  of  the  sit- 
uation. At  the  south-west  appeared  a  succession  of 
uniform  low  hill,  beyond  which  no  water  was  to  bo 
seen.  In  the  interior  he  could  see  even  throuu-h  the 
snow,  that  the  plains  were  covered  with  vegetation. 
Many  tracks  of  hares  were  seen,  and  some  of  these  an- 
imals were  shot,  Avhich  were  at  this  early  date  (juite 
white,  showing  that  their  change  in  color  is  not  the 
eflbct  of  temperature,  but  a  prospective  arrangement 
for  meeting  the  cold  of  winter.  There  were  also 
many  Esquimaux  traps  with  a  gi'eat  number  of  cairns 
or  stones,  which  at  a  distance  reseml)le  men,  and  are 
erected  by  the  Esquimaux  for  the  purpose  of  fright- 
ening the  deer  and  turning  them  within  reach. 

In  the  meantime  the  crew  were  set  to  work  unlad- 
ing the  ship  of  the  steam  engine  and  fixtures  which 
had  pioved  an  incumbrance.  Thenceforth  the  Victory 
was  simply  a  sailing  vessel. 

By  October  8th  there  was  not  an  atom  of  water 
to  be   seen    anywhere,  and  excepting  the  protrud- 


W 


i  -''lirfl 


E  f,, 


em 


"'rmm 


:|l.l1; 


I"   k  r'l , ! 


268 


SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    JOHN    ROSS. 


ing  point  of  some  dark  rock,  nothing  but  one  dazzling 
and  monotonous,  dull  and  woarisomo  extent  of  snow 
"was  visible.  Captain  Ross  describes  the  eflect  of  this 
uniformity,  silence  and  death  as  paralyzing  to  both 
body  and  mind.  Nothing  moves,  nothing  changes; 
all  is  forever  the  same — cheerless,  cold,  and  silent. 

The  Victory  had  not  made  the  progress  expected 
of  her,  but  she  went  into  winter  quarters  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  miles  be}ond  the  wrecking-groiuid  of 
the  Fury.  An  examination  of  the  provisions  and 
fuel  gave  the  comforting  assurance  that  there  was 
enough  of  both  to  suppy  all  wants  for  more  than  two 
years;  and  oflicers  and  crew  settled  down  for  a  long 
winter's  repose. 

The  record  of  the  winter  is  monotonous.  Captain 
Ross  studied  carefully  the  effects  of  the  cold  upon  him- 
self and  men,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
is  great  difference  in  individuals  as  to  their  power  of 
generating  heat.  A  ruddy,  elastic,  •  florid,  or  clear 
complexioned  man,  is  secured  by  nature  against  cold ; 
while  the  pale,  sallow,  and  melanclioly-looking,  are  not 
the  men  for  an  Arctic  voyage. 

The  deck  of  the  Victory  being  covered  Avith 
snow  to  the  depth  of  two-and-a-half  feet,  it  was  trod 
down  till  it  became  a  solid  mass,  and  was  then  cov- 
ered with  sand,  so  as  to  have  the  appearance  of  a  solid 
gravel  walk.  Above  this  a  roof  was  built,  and  the 
sides  of  the  vessel  were  banked  with  snow  up  to  the 
roof  so  as  to  form  a  perfect  shelter  from  the  wind  and 
Avard  off  much  of  the  extreme  cold.  On  this  deck  the 
men  walked  for  exercise  when  the  cold  was  too  cxccs^ 
sive  for  them  to  venture  abroad.  From  six  o'clock 
in  the  evening  till  nine,  the  men  were  required  to 
attend  school,  and  on  Sunday  prayers  were  offered 


LIFE    AT    FELIX    IIAUUOR. 


2G9 


and  a  sermon  read  ;  the  good  efibcts  of  their  educa- 
tional and  rehgious  duties  were  manifest  in  the  conduct 
of  the  men,  who  seemed  to  feel  that  they  belonged  to 
one  family,  and  evinced  much  mutual  kindness  and 
a  remarkable  propriety  of  deportment.  The  use  of 
spirituous  liquors  was  abandoned,  and  even  the  habit 
of  swearini^  Avas  broken  up. 

Christmas  was  celebrated  with  a  liberal  dinner,  of 
which  roast  beef  formed  the  essential  and  orthodox 
portion.  The  stores  from  the  Fury  came  into  play 
on  this  day,  as  they  included  mince  pies  and  iced 
cherry  brandy.  Flags  were  displayed  from  the  ship 
and  shore,  the  church  service  allotted  for  the  day  read, 
and  one  and  all  enjoyed  the  festival  more  probably 
than  those  whose  lives  of  uniform  ease,  peace,  and 
luxury,  render  them  insensible  to  hard-won  enjoyment. 
The  thermometer  ranged  from  18  to  22  below  zero. 

January  9th,  some  Esquimaux  appearing  on  the 
shore,  the  officers  went  out  to  meet  them  and  found 
them  armed  with  spears  and  knives.  Captain  Ross 
hailed  them  with  the  Esquimaux  salutation,  tim,a, 
tima,  and  was  answered  by  a  general  shout  of  the 
same  kind,  the  natives  throwing  their  weapons  into 
the  air,  and  extending  their  arms.  An  embrace  on 
the  part  of  Captain  Ross,  and  a  stroking  of  the  dress 
of  the  Esquimaux,  the  sign  of  friendship,  established 
unhesitating  confidence,  which  they  manifested  in  the 
great  deliglit  apparent  on  their  countenances,  and  in 
laughing,  clamor,  and  strange  gestures.  They  w^ere 
all  well  drassed  in  excellent  deer-skins,  the  upper  gar- 
ments double  and  encircling  the  body,  and  extending 
from  the  chin  to  the  middle  of  the  thigh.  Of  the  two 
skins  which  formed  this  double  dress,  the  inner  one 
had  the  hair  next  to  the  body,  and  the  outer  one  in 


tvik 

a  'li» 

Pi 

1 

?v  H  1 

1      lllf  "^ 

.; 

1 

■ 

I. 

11 

,'   iriH 

W' 

T' 

lit  •"■I? 


< '  J    Til       L*l 


1/ 


II 


i; 


i#^ 


270 


SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    JOILV     IIOS.--'. 


a  reverse  direction.  The  trousers  were  also  of  deer 
skin,  rea(;liin<r  low  on  the  leg,  and  eac^h  had  on  two 
pairs  of  hoots,  with  the  hairy  side  of  hoth  turned  in- 
ward. Willi  this  inunense  superstructure  of  clothing, 
they  looked  much  larger  than  they  really  were,  and 
more  like  woodchucks  walking  on  their  hind  legs 
than  men.  Their  cheeks  were  plump,  and  of  as  rosy 
a  color  as  possible  under  so  dark  a  skin.  Their  faces 
were  good-natured,  their  eyes  dark,  nose  small,  and  the 
hair  l)lack  and  cut  short,  and  carefully  arranged. 

Three  of  these  Esquimaux  being  introduced  into 
the  cabin,  were  greatly  delighted  with  some  engrav- 
ings of  their  countrymen,  which  they  instantly  re- 
cognized as  portraits  of  their  race.  The  siglit  of  them- 
selves in  a  looking-glass  excited  their  greatest  aston- 
ishment. They  did  not  relish  the  preserved  meat,  but 
being  offered  some  oil,  drank  it  with  great  gusto. 
Thus  admirably  are  the  tastes  of  all  men  adapted  to 
the  food  within  their  leach,  and  their  views  of  happi- 
ness to  the  means  provided  for  their  enjoyment.  A 
Hand  thus  spreads  for  His  creatures  a  table  in  the  wil- 
derness. 

The  next  day  Captain  Ross  visited  the  village  of 
these  Esquimaux,  about  two-and-a-half  miles  distant, 
which  he  found  to  consist  of  twelve  snow-huts,  having 
the  appearence  of  inverted  basins.  Each  had  a  long 
crooked  appendage,  which  formed  the  entrance,  and 
at  its  mouth  sat  the  women  and  children.  This  pas- 
sage, always  long  and  generally  crooked,  led  to  the 
principal  apartment.  Opposite  the  doorway  there  was 
a  bank  of  snow  about  two-and-a-half  feet  high,  level 
at  the  top,  and  covered  with  skins,  forming  the  gen- 
eral bed,  or  sleeping-place  for  the  wholtj.  At  the  end 
of  this  snow-couch  sat  the  mistress  of  the  home,  op- 


th 


up 
tei 


18 


KINO  William's  land. 


271 


posite  to  the  lamp,  ■wliich  bcin^  of  moss  and  oil.  as  is 
the  miiversal  custom,  gave  oiioiigh  light  miil  heat  to 
render  the  apartment  comfortable.  Over  the  lamp 
was  the  cooking-dish  of  stone,  containing  the  flesh  of 
deer  and  seals,  cooking  in  oil.  Dresses,  implements, 
and  provisions  lay  about  in  unspeakable  confusion,  as 
order  is  not  one  of  the  Escjuimaux  virtues. 

A  large  oval  piece  of  clear  ice,  fixed  about  halfway 
u})  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  rool",  served  to  admit  ex- 
ternal light  to  their  snow-houses.  In  the  entrance 
passage,  there  was  a  little  ante-chamber,arranged  (or  the 
eomlort  of  the  dogs,  and  the  mouth  of  the  entrance 
was  changed  with  each  change  of  wind,  so  as  always 
to  open  to  the  leeward. 

The  females  were  certainly  not  beautifid,  l»ut.  what 
is  better,  were  well  behaved.  All  above  thirteen 
years  of  age  seemed  to  be  married,  and  there  were 
three  or  four  such  in  every  house— apparently  three 
yomig  wives  in  a  house  where  there  was  one  old  one, 
a  modification  of  Mormonism,  which  BriLiham  Young 
will  do  well  to  consider.  All  were  tattooed  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  chiefly  on  the  brow  and  on  each 
side  of  the  mouth  and  chin. 

In  the  following  spring,  Ross,  "  the  nephew  of  his 
uncle,"  and  really  the  enterprising  genius  of  the  ex- 
pedition, started  off  on  a  sledge  journey  of  nearly  a 
inontli,  during  which  he  penetrated  westward  two 
hundred  miles,  and  discovered  King  William's  Sound 
and  King  William's  Land. 

The  Victory  was  held  fast  in  the  ice  for  eleven 
months,  and  only  released  on  the  17th  of  September, 
1830.  This  long  imprisonment  through  the  summer 
months  was  enough  to  discourage  any  but  Arctic  adven- 
turers.    Their  sledge  journeys  had  satisfied  them  that 


ii  r] 


iltlf 


;/  i 


272 


SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    JOHN     ROSS. 


(    ;; 


fi  i 


ill     I 


i    'i 


a 


ii  '■ 


d    V    1    a  '  '  '■■ 


there  was  no  western  passage  from  Regent's  Inlet,  to 
the  south  of  their  position,  and  it  was  Avith  delight  that 
they  once  more  found  themselves  free  to  retrace  their 
course  northward.  After  advancing  about  three  miles 
they  encountered  a  field  of  ice,  tlu'ough  which  they 
vainly  endeavored  to  saw  their  way.  On  the  30th  of 
September  there  was  no  water  to  be  seen.  On  all 
sides  lay  snow  and  ice.  They  did  not,  hoAvever,  relin- 
quish their  endeavors,  bv.t  spent  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber in  sawing  through  ice  which  was  constantly  in- 
creasing in  thickness.  They  struggled  like  drowning 
men,  but  were  opposed  by  King  Frost,  who  is  a  mighty 
power  in  tliose  rogicms. 

Obliged  at  last  to  su])mit  to  his  sovereignty,  the 
utter  monotony  of  their  situation  pressed  upon  them 
with  iucieasiug  severity,  and  they  were  led  to  envy 
the  Esquimaux,  to  whom  eating  and  sleeping  was  the 
wliole  of  life. 

In  the  following  spring  James  Ross  started  oil'  on  a 
sledge  excursion,  to  ascertain  the  precise  location  of  the 
Magnetic  Pole.  \n  this  he  was  successi'ul.  In  lati- 
tude 70°  5' 17",  and  longitude  U0°  4G'45"west,he  (bund 
the  dip  of  his  needle  to  be  89°  59',  being  thus  witliin 
one  minute  of  vertical.  On  this  spot  he  erected  a 
cairn  of  some  magnitude,  and  placing  under  it  a  canis- 
ter containing  a  record  of  the  event,  and  over  it  the 
British  flag,  lie  ibrmally  took  possessicm  of  the  North 
Magnetic  Pole  and  its  adjoining  territor}'  of  Roothia, 
in  the  name  of  Great  Britain  and  King  William  IV. 

This  was  doubtless  an  a})proximiiti()n  to  the  position 
of  the  Pole,  as  it  then  was,  as  scientific  men  had  \)VG- 
viously  fixed  it  in  this  neighborhood,  from  observations 
of  their  compasses  in  various  circumjacent  latitudes; 
but  the  trouble  with  this  pole  is  that  it  does  not  stay 


DISCOVERY    OF    THE    MAGxXETIC    POLE. 


273 


fixed,  but  moves  11'  4"  each  year,  and  revolves  around 
the  North  Pole  of  the  eartlionce  in  1890  years.  Accord- 
ing to  this  calculation  it  will  come  around  to  Ross's 
cairn  in  Boothia  again  in  A.  D.  3721. 
I  After  a  second  imprisonment  of  eleven  months,  the 
Victory  was  warped  into  open  sea,  August  27th,  1831, 
but  after  advancing  four  miles  in  one  month,  she  was 
again  ice-bound,  September  27th,  and  another  deso- 
late winter  was  spent  in  Regent's  Inlet — how  desolate 
none  can  tell  who  has  not  suffered  similar  solitude  and 
monotony. 

As  the  experience  of  two  summers  left  them  little 
hope  of  saving  the  ship,  Captain  Ross  and  his  ollicers 
resolved  to  abandon  the  Victory,  and  travel  over  the 
ice  to  Fury  Beach,  and  tiuis  avail  themselves  of  the 
boats,  which  might  enable  them  to  reach  Davis's 
Straits.  Accordingly,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1832,  tiie 
colors  of  the  Victory  were  hoisted  and  nailed  to  the 
mast,  and  the  captain  and  crew  took  a  sad  leave  of  her. 
"  It  was  the  first  vessel,"  saj's  Ross,  "  that  I  iiad  ever 
been  obliged  to  abamlon,  after  having  served  in  thirty- 
six,  during  a  period  of  forty-two  years.  It  was  like 
the  last  parting  with  au  old  friend,  and  I  did  not  pass 
the  point  where  she  ceased  to  l)e  visil)le  without  stop- 
ping to  take  a  sketch  of  this  nudancholy  desert,  ren- 
dered more  melancholy  by  the  solitary,  abandoned  lielp- 
less  home  of  our  pnst  years,  fixed  in  inunoval^le  ice  till 
time  should  perform  on  her  his  usual  work." 

After  incredible  fatigue  and  hardship,  the  crew 
reached  Fury  Beach  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  where, 
thanks  to  Parry  and  Providence,  they  found  boats  and 
])r()visions  in  good  condition.  August  1st,  they  em- 
biu'ked  in  their  boats  on  an  open  sea,  and  after  much 
buffeting,  many    i)erils,  and  a   month  of    toil,   they 


II' 


k'^ 


f-f 


■'^'A 


274 


SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    JOHN    ROSS. 


■I 


reached  the  mouth  of  the  inlet.  Here  they  were 
doomed  again  to  a  sad  disappointment,  for  after  several 
fruitless  attempts  to  run  along  Barrow's  Strait.s,  the  ice 
obliged  them  to  haul  their  bojits  on  shore  and  pitch 
their  tents.  Day  after  diiy  they  lingered  till  the  third 
week  in  September  ;  but  the  strait  continuing  one  im- 
penetrable mass  of  ice,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that 
their  only  resource  was  to  fall  back  on  the  stores  at 
Fury  Beach,  and  there  spend  a  fourth  long  winter 
in  the  Arctic  Circle.  They  Avere  only  able  to  proceed 
half  the  distance  in  boats,  and  on  the  24tli  of  Sep- 
tember left  them  behind  on  the  shores  of  Batty  Bay. 

The  rest  of  the  journey  was  performed  on  foot,  the 
provisions  beiniif  drawn  in  sledges.  On  the  7th  of 
October  the}^  reached  the  canvas  hut,  dignified  with 
the  Uiime  of  Somerset  House,  which  they  had  erected 
in  July,  on  the  scene  of  the  Fury's  wreck,  to  which 
they  thought  they  had  Ijid  a  last  farewell. 

Building  a  snow  Wiill  four  feet  thick  around  their 
canvas  house,  strengthening  the  roof  with  spars  so  that 
it  might  be  covered  with  snow,  and  putting  up  another 
stove,  they  continued  to  make  themselves  comfortable, 
until  the  scurvy  broke  out  among  them  and  several 
of  the  men  fell  victims  thereto.  It  was  indeed  an  anx- 
ious and  doleful  winter,  for,  should  they  be  disap- 
pointed in  their  hopes  of  escaping  the  next  summer, 
their  failing  strength  and  diminishing  stores  left  them 
little  hope  of  surviving  another  year.  As  the  sum- 
mer opened,  they  moved  forward  stores  to  Batty  Bay, 
a  distance  of  thirty-two  miles ;  but  as  their  numbers 
were  now  reduced,  this  land  carriage  taxed  their 
strength  sorely,  and  it  occupied  a  month.  Another 
month  was  passed  at  Batty  Bay,  in  constant  expecta- 
tion of  the  moving  of  the  ice. 


1-    ' 


RESCUED     BY    THE    ISABELLA. 


275 


At  length  on  the  evening  of  August  14th,  the  sight 
of  moving  ice  gladdened  their  hearts ;  on  the  morning 
of  the  15th,  they  slowly  made  their  way  through  the 
masses  of  ice  with  which  the  bay  was  encumbered, 
and  to  their  great  joy  they  found,  on  the  17th,  the  wide 
expanse  of  Barrow's  Strait,  open  to  navigation.  Pushing 
on  with  renewed  hope,  Cape  York  soon  lay  behind 
them,  and  by  alternately  rowing  and  sailing,  they 
rested  on  the  night  of  the  25th  in  a  good  harbor  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  Navy  Board  Inlet. 

At  four  o'clock  the  following  morning,  they  were 
roused  from  their  slumber  by  the  joyful  announcement 
of  a  ship  in  sight,  and  never  did  men  more  hurriedly 
and  energetically  start  in  pursuit ;  but  the  elements 
were  against  them,  and  the  ship  disappeared  in  the 
distant  haze.  Another  vessel,  however,  was  seen  a 
few  hours  afterward,  lying  in  a  calm,  and  by  hard  row- 
ing they  soon  came  up  with  her ;  strange  to  say,  she 
proved  to  be  the  Isabella,  the  same  vessel  in  which 
Captain  Ross  had  made  his  first  trip  to  the  Arctic  seas, 
now  employed  as  a  whaler. 

The  officers  of  the  Isabella  could  scarcely  credit  tho 
story  of  Captain  Ross,  as  he  had  long  been  supposed 
to  be  dead ;  when  all  doubts  were  removed,  the  rig- 
ging was  instantly  manned  to  do  the  adventurers 
honor,  and  thundering  cheers  welcomed  Ross  and  his 
gallant  band  on  board.  The  scene  that  followed  can 
not  better  be  described  than  in  Captain  Ross's  own 
words : — 

"  Though  we  had  not  been  supported  by  our  names 
and  characters,  we  should  not  the  less  have  claimed 
from  charity  the  attentions  that  we  received,  for  never 
was  seen  a  more  miserable  set  of  wretches.  Unshaven 
since  I  know  not  when,  dirty,  dressed  in  rags  of  wild 


kT^ 


•mt 


u 


J     ! 


f  ! 


;i 


4-f  I'"' 

1-^    if*',;. 


■1^ 


H 


276 


SECOND    EXPEDITION    OP    JOHN    ROSS. 


beasts,  and  starved  to  the  very  bones,  our  gaunt  and 
grim  looks,  when  contrasted  with  those  of  the  well- 
dressed  and  well-fed  men  around  us,  made  us  all  feel 
(I  believe  for  the  first  time)  what  we  really  were,  as 
well  as  what  we  seemed  to  others.  But  the  ludicrous 
soon  took  the  place  of  all  other  feelings  ;  in  such  a 
crowd  and  such  confusion,  all  serious  thought  was  im- 
possible, while  the  new  buoyancy  of  our  spirits  made 
us  abundantly  willing  to  be  amused  by  the  scene 
which  now  opened. 

"  Every  man  was  hungry,  and  was  to  be  fed ;  all  were 
ragged,  and  were  to  be  clothed ;  there  was  not  one  to 
whom  washing  was  not  indispensable,  nor  one  whom 
his  beard  did  not  deprive  of  all  human  semblance. 
In  the  midst  of  all,  there  were  interminable  questions 
to  be  asked  and  answered  on  both  sides ;  the  adven- 
tures of  the  Victory,  our  own  escapes,  the  politics  of 
England,  and  the  news  which  was  four  years  old.  But 
all  subsided  into  peace  at  last.  The  sick  were  accom- 
modated, the  seamen  disposed  of,  and  all  was  done  for 
us  which  care  and  kindness  could  perform. 

"  Night  at  length  brought  quiet  and  serious  thoughts, 
and  I  trust  there  was  not  a  man  among  us  who  did 
not  then  express,  where  it  was  due,  his  gratitude  for 
that  interposition  which  had  raised  us  all  from  des- 
pair which  none  could  now  forget,  and  had  brought 
us  from  the  borders  of  a  most  distant  grave,  to  life, 
and  friends,  and  civilizatio  i.  Long  accustomed,  how- 
ever, to  a  cold  bed  on  the  hard  snow  or  the  bare  rocks, 
few  could  sleep  amidst  the  comforts  of  our  new  ac- 
commodations. I  was  myself  compelled  to  leave  the 
bed  which  had  been  kindly  assigned  me,  and  take  my 
abode  in  a  chair  for  the  night ;  nor  did  it  fare  much 
better  with  the  rest    It  was  for  time  to  reconcile  us 


RETURN    OF    TIIE    LOST    EXPLORERS. 


277 


to  the  sudden  and  violent  change,  to  break  through 
what  had  become  habit,  and  to  inure  us  once  more 
to  the  usages  of  former  days." 

The  party  reached  England,  October  15th,  1833, 
after  an  absence  of  four-and-a-half  years.  Having 
long  been  considered  as  lost,  they  were  looked  upon 
as  men  risen  from  the  dead,  and  met  and  escorted 
by  a  crowd  of  sympathizers.  Orders,  medals,  and  hon- 
ors were  showered  upon  John  Ross  by  his  own  country- 
men and  continental  sovereigns,  and  Parliament 
granted  him  £5,000  as  some  remuneration  for  his  out- 
lays and  hardships.  A  baronetcy  was  conferred  on 
Felix  Booth,  the  patron  of  the  expedition. 

John  Ross  and  James  C.  Ross  subsequently  ap- 
peared again  in  the  Arctic  Seas  as  searchers  for  Frank- 
lin. 


n 


* 


m 


ItJgL    i 


!    '! 


V    It 


im 


t;* 


i  1 ' 


'^m^. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
GEORGE  BACK'S  EXPEDITIONS. 

Captai-^  Z'^nnre  Back  will  be  remembered  as  a 
companion  of  ' '  ^;lia  on  his  first  land  expedition. 
He  was  in  Italy  at  tlie  time  when  the  prolonged 
absence  of  tL  '  Rosses  be^an  to  awaken  fears  for  their 
safety.  Hastening  home  he  volunteered  to  lead  a 
land  expedition  in  searcli  of  the  lost  explorers,  and, 
accompanied  by  Dr.  King,  left  England  for  New  York 
in  February  1833,  for  that  purpose. 

Back  and  King  left  Montreal  April  25th,  in  two 
canoes  amid  enthusiastic  cheering,  and  as  the  boats 
turned  their  bows  up  the  noble  St.  Lawrence,  one 
loud  huzza  bade  the  travelers  farewell.  The  route 
lay  up  the  Ottawa.  Paul,  an  old  Iroquois  guide 
who  knew  every  rock  in  the  whole  line  of  rapids 
between  Montreal  and  Hudson's  Bay,  was  the  pilot. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  the  travelers  arrived  at  Nor- 
way House,  where  they  halted  to  enlist  volunteers 
to  guide  and  accompany  them.  The  experts  in 
wilderness  life  were  reluctant  at  first  to  engage  in  the 
enterprise,  but  James  McKay,  a  powerful  High- 
lander and  one  of  the  best  steersmen  in  the  countiy, 
having  consented  to  enlist,  there  was  no  further 
trouble  in  securing  men.  Among  other  applicants 
two  Canadians,  old  acquaintances  of  Back's,   came 

nearly  breathless  with  haste,  and  were  enlisted. 

278 


WOMAN  S    KIGIITS    AT    XOIIWAY    HOUSE. 


279 


But,  "there  is  many  a  slip  between  tlie  cup  and  tlie 
lip."  These  Canadians  liad  wives,  and  these  wives 
thought  they  had  rights,  as  surely  they  had.  The 
different  conduct  of  tliese  Avonien  ilhistrates  the  two 
ijreat  methods  by  which  tlie  gentle  sex  enforce 
their  rights.  One,  a  good  strapping  dame,  cuffed  her 
liusband's  ears  with  such  dexterity  and  good  will, 
that  he  ^vas  fain  to  cry  pereav I  and  seek  shelter  in  a 
friendly  tent;  the  other,  an  interesting  girl  of  seven- 
teen, burst  into  tears,  and  with  piteous  sobs  clung  to 
the  husband  of  her  love,  as  if  she  would  hold  him 
prisoner  in  her  arms.  The  result  proved  that  each 
method  was  equally  effectual,  for  Back  lost  the  ser- 
vices of  the  men.  ' 

Leaving  Norway  House  on  the  28th  of  June,  and 
proceeding  by  the  usual  route.  Back  aj^proached 
Cumberland  House  on  the  5th  of  July.  The  crew 
di'essed  themselves  out  in  all  their  finery — silver  bands 
tassels,  plumes  and  feathers,  intending  to  approach  the 
station  with  some  military  effect ;  but  unfortunately 
for  the  Y)00v  fellows,  the  rain  fell  in  torrents,  their 
feathers  drooped,  and  to  complete  their  discomfiture 
they  were  obliged  to  walk  in  their  crestfallen  condi- 
tion for  a  mile  in  the  mud  before  reaching  the  station. 

The  boats,  stores,  etc.,  were  all  in  readiness  for  a 
start,  and  Capt.  Back  had  the  satisfaction  of  getting 
his  two  batteaux  under  way  on  the  Gth  of  July. 
Each  was  laden  with  a  cargo  weighing  over  two 
tons,  exclusive  of  men,  bedding,  and  clothes.  Yet 
with  such  steersmen  as  McKay  and  Sinclair,  no 
apprehension  was  felt  for  their  safety. 

Back   lingered  behind   a   day   or   two,  and   then 

advanced  in  his  canoe  with  eight  attendants  under 

the  pilotage  of  his  skillful  guide,  De  Charloit,  a  half- 

17 


■  *. 


Mn 


n- 


if'  I 


'I  S:! 


!i  ; 


\r 


I    ■ 


IT"! 


It?      I  '  l!         •    *         '  i 


280 


THE    WA'ITEAUX    AND    CANOES. 


breed,  and  soon  overtook  Dr.  Ivlni?  witli  the  larw  boats. 
Tlie  contrast  between  tlie  rapidity  of  motion  of  the 
t^vo  jjarties  was  striking.  The  water  was  very  lo^v^, 
and  the  cumbrous  batteaux  were  dra2:ured  in  some 
places  laboriously  a  few  paces  at  a  time  l)y  the  united 
exertions  of  those  on  board  and  those  on  shore. 
Sometimes  unable  to  resist  the  force  of  the  impetuons 
current  they  wei'e  swept  back ;  at  others,  suspended 
on  the  arched  back  of  a  wave,  they  struggled  and 
labored  until  they  were  again  in  the  shelter  of  some 
friendly  eAAy.  But  the  canoe,  frail  as  she  Avas,  Avas 
threaded  through  the  boiling  rapids  and  sunken  locks 
with  feai-ful  elegance. 

On  the  21st  of  July,  the  party  reached  Portage  la 
Loche,  the  high  ridge  of  land  Avhicli  divides  the 
Avaters  running  into  Hudson's  Bay  from  those  Avhicli 
direct  their  course  to  the  Arctic  Sea.  Here  a  beauti- 
ful and  picturesque  vieAV  opened  to  their  sight.  A 
thousand  feet  beloAV,  the  sylvan  landscape  lay  spread 
out  in  all  the  Avild  luxuriance  of  its  sunmier  clothing. 
Even  the  most  jaded  of  the  party  seemed  to  foiget 
his  Aveariness,  and  halted  involuntarily  to  gaze  Avith 
admiration  on  a  spectacle  so  magnificent. 

On  the  8th  of  August  they  reached  Great  SlaA'e 
Lake  and  Avere  Avelcomed  at  Fort  Resolution.  The 
remainder  of  the  month  Avas  spent  by  Back  in  explor- 
ing this  lake  and  searching  for  Great  Fish  River, 
called  by  the  Indians  ThlcAV-ee-choh,  and  noAV  named 
in  honor  of  our  explorer,  Avho  Avas  the  first  to  descend 
it,  Back's  River. 

Many  encampments  of  Indians  Avere  passed,  AAdio.^e 
occupants  Avere  employed  in  drying  the  flesh  of 
moose  recently  killed.  The  hunters  were  lying  at 
full  length  on  the  grass,  Avhifling  the  cherished  pipe, 


IM)1A>    fcLM.MKU    KN<AM1'MKNT. 


MOOSK    UUM'INO-   YIKON    RIVKR. 


I       .'     J 


m 


M*< 


t.  'i  -->■*»*' 


M 


,(■  i  .j 


(•  \ 


a 'It 


i  ti5: 


:|St. 


'%  :     i'' 


«i*iW<«'l 


INDIAN    8LMMER    ENCAMPMENTS. 


281 


or  lounging  on  tlieir  elbows^  to  watcli  the  frizzling  of 
a  rich  marrow  bone,  the  customary  perquisite  of  their 
labors.  Women  were  lighting  or  tending  the  fires,  ovtr 
which  were  suspended  lows  of  thinly  sliced  meat,  some 
screaming  to  thievish  dogs,  and  otiiers  with  still 
louder  screams,  endeavoring  to  drown  the  shrill  cries 
of  their  children,  who,  swaddled  and  unable  to  stir, 
were  half  suffocated  with  the  smoke ;  while  to  com- 
plete  the  scene,  eight  or  ten  boys  at  play,  were  turn- 
inrj  themselves  over  and  under  some  white  bai'k 
canoes  like  so  many  land  d()l[)hins.  Their  hapi)iness 
was  at  the  full;  at  that  moment  they  were  witliout 
care,  enjoying  themselves  according  to  their  nature 
and  cai)acity.  Is  human  happiness  ever  much  more 
than  this  ? 

Oil  the  29th  of  August,  Back  reachtjd  one  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  Great  Fish  River,  and  yielding  to 
that  pleasing  emotion  which  discoverers,  in  the  first 
bound  of  their  transport,  may  be  pardoned  for  indul- 
ging, he  threw  himself  down  on  the  bank  and  drank  a 
hearty  draught  of  the  limpid  water.  He  then 
returned  to  winter-quarters  at  Fort  Reliance  on  Slave 
Lake  where  a  house  was  erected. 

As  winter  came  on  the  sufferings  of  the  Indians  in 
the  vicinity  were  extreme.  "  Famine,"  says  Back, 
"with  her  gaunt  and  bony  arm  pursued  them  at  eveiy 
turn,  and  strewed  them  lifeless  on  the  cold  bosom  of 
the  snow.  Often  did  I  share  my  own  plate  with  the 
children,  whose  helpless  state  and  piteous  cries  Avere 
peculiarly  distressing.  Compassion  for  the  full-gr(n\  n 
may  or  may  not  be  felt,  but  that  heart  must  be  case<l 
in  steel  which  is  insensible  to  the  cry  of  a  child  for 
food." 

Back's  party  shared  in  the  general  distress   and 


fi 


../^ 


ai  .11 


2S'j 


"  UAISIXO    THE    DEVIL.'* 


M 


I  ' 


could  hestow  but  little  on  the  -wretchotl  sufferors, 
■who  began  to  imagine  that  the  instrinnents  in  the 
o>>servatory  lcej)t  the  deer  at  a  distance  and  caused 
their  Rufl'erings.  Even  tin;  voyageui'S  were  suj>erstit;ins- 
ly  impressed,  and  on  one  occasion  two  of  them  listened 
by  the  fence  l>uilt  around  the  observatory,  and  hear- 
ing at  intervals  the  Avords  "now"  and  "siop,"  always 
succeeded  by  silence,  the}'  turned  hastily  away  and 
reported  to  their  companions  that  they  verily  believed 
the  captain  Avaa  "  raising  the  devil." 

In  November,  the  chief  Akaitcho,  the  old  acquaint- 
ance of  Franklin,  arrived  very  opportunely  Avith  some 
meat  which  was  of  great  benefit  to  all.  When  he 
went  aAvay  he  took  some  of  the  starving  Indians  with 
him,  and  promised  Back  that  he  should  not  want  as 
long  as  he  had  anything  to  send  to  the  fort.  And  he 
kept  his  word,  and  during  a  most  ajialling  period  of 
suffering  and  calamity  proved  himself  the  firm  friend 
of  the  expedition ;  the  dawn  of  each  morning  saw 
him  prepared  for  the  hunt,  and  he  boldly  encountered 
every  difficulty  and*  made  others  act  by  the  force  of 
his  example. 

In  describing  the  scenes  of  this  winter  Back  says: — 
— "No  sooner  had  one  party  closed  the  d(K)r  than 
another  feebly  opened  it,  and  confirmed  by  their  half- 
famished  looks  and  sunken  eyes  their  heart-rending 
tale  of  sufferings.  They  spoke  little,  but  crowded  in 
silence  around  the  fire,  as  if  eager  to  enjoy  the  onl\' 
comfort  renif  ining  to  them.  A  handful  of  mouldy 
pounded  meat  which  had  been  intended  for  the  dogs 
■was  all  we  could  give  them  ;  and  this,  with  the  cus- 
tomary presentation  of  the  friendly  pipe,  was  suffi- 
cient to  efface  for  a  moment  the  recollection  of  their 
sorrows,  and  even  light  up  their  faces  with  a  smile 
of  hope." 


SAD    FATE    OF    AU0USTU8. 


283 


Tn  IMarch,  information  cnnio  tliat  Aii,!::fU8tua,  the 
Es([uiniaux  interpreter  nn<l  Hack's  t)ld  friend,  hear- 
inf  that  he  was  in  the  country  had  set  out  to  join 
iiini,  and  walked  from  Hudson's  Hay  to  Fort  Kesohi- 
tion  for  tliat  i)urpos('.  From  this  i)hice  he  started 
with  a  Canadian  and  lro(|Uois,  wht)  were  takiui^ 
dispatches  to  Hack  ;  hut  they  all  lost  their  way,  and 
the  couriers  returned  to  the  fort  without  Augustus, 
who  had  persisted  in  going  on  alone.  In  June  the 
remains  of  the  hrave  Es(pumau.\  were  found  near  the 
Riviere  a  Jean.  "  Such,"  says  Hack,  "  was  the  misera- 
hle  end  of  poor  Augustus  ! — a  faithful,  disinterested, 
kind-hearted  creature,  who  had  won  the  regard  not 
of  myself  only,  hut  I  may  add  of  Sir  John  Frank- 
lin and  Dr.  Eichardson  also,  l>y  ([ualities,  which, 
^•herever  found,  in  the  lowest  as  in  the  liighest  forms 
of  social  life,  are  tlie  ornament  and  charm  of  human- 
ity." 

On  the  2r)th  of  April  1834,  a  messenger  arrived 
with  the  c:lad  tidings  of  the  safe  return  of  Ross  and 
]n^  party  to  England.  Back,  however,  thought  it  his 
duty  to  explore  Fish  Rivei',  and  on  the  Tth  of  June 
left  Fort  Reliance  for  this  purpose.  Though  no 
lonm-er  stimulated  with  the  desire  to  render  aid  and 
comfort  to  Ross,  he  ^vas  heartily  glad  to  get  away 
from  scenes  of  suffering  and  death,  and  launch  out 
again  into  stii'rino;  adventure. 

In  descending  the  Fish  River,  eighty  or  ninety 
miles  of  the  distance  was  a  succession  of  falls  and 
rapids,  kee}»ing  the  men  in  a  constant  state  of  exertiini 
and  anxiety.  Cataracts,  too,  obstructed  their  passage. 
In  passing  down  one  of  these,  where  the  river  ^vas 
full  of  rocks  and  boulders,  the  boat  was  obliged  to 
be  lightened. 


^^- 


■y.\ 


284 


KUNNING   THE    EAPIDS. 


Im 


iiW 


s?i 


|B|    " 


hi: 


"I  stood,"  says  Back,  "on  a  high  rock,  with  an 
anxious  heart,  to  see  her  run  it.  Away  they  went 
with  tlie  speed  of  an  arrow,  and  in  a  moment  the 
foam  and  rocks  hid  them  from  my  view.  I  heard 
wliat  sounded  in  my  ear  like  a  wild  shriek ;  I  followed 
with  an  agitation  which  may  be  conceived,  and,  to 
my  inexpressible  joy,  found  that  the  shriek  was  the 
ti'iumpliant  whoop  of  the  crew,  who  had  landed 
safely  in  a  small  bay  ]>elow." 

Near  the  close  of  July,  Back  approached  the  mouth 
of  the  Fish  Iliver  and  discovered  a  majestic  headland 
which  he  named  Victoria.  He  thus  sums  up  a  gen- 
eral view  of  the  tempestuous  stream  which  he  had 
successfully  descended : — 

"This,  then,  may  be  considered  as  the  mouth  of 
the  Thlew-ee-choh,  which,  after  a  violent  and  tortuous 
course  of  five  hundred  and  thirty  geographical  miles, 
running  through  an  iron-ri])bed  country,  without  a  sin- 
gle tree  on  the  whole  line  of  its  banks,  expanding  into 
fine  large  lakes  with  clear  hf)rizons,  most  eml)arrass- 
ing  to  the  navigator,  and  broken  into  falls,  cascades, 
and  rapids  to  the  number  of  no  less  than  eighty- 
three  in  the  whole,  pours  its  waters  into  the  Polar 
Sea  in  latitude  07*11'  K,  and  longitude  1)4'^  80^  W." 

Brift-ice  was  here  encountered,  and  further  prog- 
ress was  slow,  but  on  the  7th  of  August  the  party 
I'eached  Point  Ogle,  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
land  on  the  western  side  at  the  mouth  of  the  estuary. 
From  this  point  portions  of  the  coast  of  Boothia  were 
seen  to  the  northward.  Further  explorations  by 
water  -were  ini])Ossi})le,  but  a  i)arty  proceeded  westerly 
along  the  coast  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  for  about  fifteen 
miles,  in  the  direction  of  Cape  Turn-again. 

The  country  was  low,  level  and  desolate  and  pro- 


%i  I 


A   DESOLATE   REOIOIT. 


285 


duced  nothing  but  moss  and  fern,  whicli  was  so  wet 
that  it  would  not  Lurn.  The  weather  w^as  cliilly, 
damp  and  foggy,  and  the  situation  of  the  exph)rers 
grew  clieerless  and  miserahle.  Surrounded  on  every 
side  by  comi^lete  desolation,  without  fire  or  any  kind 
of  warm  food,  with  heavy  rains  followed  by  thick 
snows,  "  it  cannot  "  says  Back,  "  be  a  matter  of  aston- 
ishment, and  much  less  of  blame,  that  even  the  best 
men,  benunil)ed  in  their  limbs,  and  dispirited  by  the 
dreary  and  un[>romising  prospect  before  them,  broke 
out  for  a  moment  into  low  murmurino-s  that  theirs' 
was  a  hard  and  painful  duty." 

Back  had  now  no  choice  but  to  start  on  the  return 
journey,  which  was  conmienced  the  middle  of  August. 
Before  setting  out,  the  Bi'itish  flag  was  unfurled,  and 
saluted  with  three  cheers  "  in  honor  of  his  most  gra- 
cious majesty,"  and  the  name  of  William  the  Fourth's 
Land  was  given  to  this  part  of  America. 

The  many  difficulties  which  had  been  experienced 
in  going  down  the  river  were  at  least  doubled  in 
leturning,  but  the  ex[)lorers  reached  Fort  Beliance  in 
safety  on  the  27th  of  September.  Preparations  were 
iiujiiediately  made  for  si)ending  another  winter  in 
tLis  (h'eary  place.  Hunting  and  fishing  were  the 
Older  of  the  day,  and  wood  was  collected  to  keep  off 
the  cold,  which  ])roved  to  l)e  less  severe  than  usual. 

About  the  last  of  May  they  gladly  bade  adieu  to 
the  inliosj)itable  region,  and  reached  Noi'way  House 
on  the  24th  of  June.  Back  returned  home  by  way 
of  Montreal  and  New  York,  and  received  many  kind 
attentions  during  his  Journey  through  the  United 
States.  He  reached  England  in  Septeml)er,  after  an 
absence  of  over  two  and  a  half  years,  and  was  there 
honored  by  an  audience  with  the  king. 


mM^^ 


,.*!: 


■ffr'T'j 


!°1ri^ 


286 


VOYAGE  IN   THE   "TERROR." 


;  i 


hU  ^11 


ll-M\ 


i«. 


hi' 


Soon  afterwards,  tlie  English  admiralty  decided  to 
send  out  an  expedition  to  comi)lete  the  survey  of 
the  coast  between  Regent's  Inlet  and  Point  Turn- 
again,  and  for  this  j)urpose  Captain  Back  sailed  from 
England  in  the  "Terror,"  with  a  crew  of  seventy- 
three  men.  Near  tlie  Savage  Islands  they  encountered 
a  fleet  of  kayaks  and  oomiaks,  and  were  hailed  by 
their  occupants  Avitli  vociferous  ci-ies  of  ieijma.  Back 
says  that  the  conduct  of  the  women  was  particularly 
outrageous ;  besides  disjiosing  of  their  garments  they 
offered  to  barter  their  chikh-en,  and  one  of  them 
noticing  that  an  officer  had  but  little  hair  on  his 
head,  offered  to  supply  him  with  her  own. 

Early  in  September,  Avlien  near  the  entrance  of 
Frozen  Strait,  the  Terror  was  seized  l)y  tlie  ice  as 
with  the  grasp  of  a  giant,  and  during  the  Avhole  of 
tliat  month  was  whirled  backward  and  forwai'd  Just 
as  the  wind  or  tide  directed.  "  It  was,"  says  Back, 
"  a  month  of  vexation,  disappointment,  and  anxiety, 
to  me  more  distressing  and  intolera])le  than  the 
worst  pressure  of  the  worst  evils  which  had  befallen 
me  in  any  other  expedition." 

It  was  soon  evident  that  there  could  lie  no  escape 
for  several  months,  and  that  nothing  could  be  done 
but  to  make  the  situation  as  comfortable  as  possible. 
Snow  walls  and  galleries  were  built  on  the  floes ;  and 
towards  si)ring,  for  annisement,  some  of  the  men  cut 
figures  of  houses,  forts,  vessels,  and  men  and  women, 
from  1  )locks  of  snow.  Most  of  the  crew  could  read, 
some  could  recite  long  passages  of  j)rose  and  poetry, 
others  could  sing ;  and  by  bringing  out  the  talents 
of  each  for  the  common  benefit,  the  whole  were  made 
at  times  comparatively   happy. 

Thus  drifting  about  and.  at  times  undergoing  terrif 


b; 

fc 
K 


VOYAGE   m   THE   "tERKOR." 


287 


ic  nips,  tlie  Terror  remained  fast  in  the  ice  till  the 
11th  of  July,  when,  after  several  clays  spent  by 
tlie  crew  in  attempting  to  cut  her  free,  a  loud  rum- 
bling noise  was  heard,  and  the  ship  broke  her  ice- 
bonds  and  slid  gently  into  her  own  element;  but  so 
much  of  the  base  of  her  ice  cradle  still  clung  to  her, 
that  she  remained  on  her  beam  ends  for  three  days 
after. 

Kothins:  now  remained  but  to  cjet  home  as  soon 
as  possible  with  the  crazy,  broken  and  leaky  Terror, 
and  the  voyage  thither  was  as  j)erilous  as  her  encoun- 
ters Avith  the  ice  had  been.  On  I'eaching  the  coast 
of  Ireland,  the  ship  was  run  asliore  in  a  sinking  con- 
dition, and  could  hardly  have  floated  a  day  longer. 
She  -was  afterwards  refitted,  and  with  her  and  the 
Erebus,  James  C.  Ross  made  his  explorations  in  the 
Southern  Seas.  Subse(piently,  Franklin  and  his  lost 
expedition  sailed  in  the  same  famous  ships. 

The  ice-drift  experiences  of  the  Terror  much  resem- 
]Ae  those  of  the  Advance  and  Rescue  while  searching 
for  Franklin — a  full  history  whereof  is  given  in  Dr. 
Kane's  narrative  of  the  First  American  Expedition. 


Bf    i 


VS 


1 

W' 

m 

mm. 


^ 


f 


r 


i!     ./. 


Ml' 


It  ' 


CHAPTER  XXL 


i1 


!    1 


il;l.< 


HI  ill- 


e.  "^ 


m  * 
''  In 


^1 1, 


IT'  :■■■ 


ii',,>2.j,i 


LAND  EXPEDITIONS  OF  DEASE  AND  SIMP- 
SON,  AND  IIAE. 

As  a  consiclerahle  extent  of  the  northern  coast  of 
America  still  remained  nnexploretl,  the  Hudson's  Bay- 
Company  determined,  in  188(5,  to  equip  an  exjiedi- 
tion  of  twelve  men  under  the  lead  of  two  of  its  own 
officers — Peter  W.  Dease  and  Thomas  Simpson.  The 
latter  was  a  young  and  well-educated  Scotchman 
who  had  resided  in  the  territory  since  1829  ;  he  was 
full  of  zeal  for  scientific  discovery,  and  the  astronomer 
and  historian  of  the  expedition. 

Before  setting  out,  Mr.  Simpson  spent  several 
months  at  the  Red  River  Settlement,  situated  near 
the  50th  parallel  at  an  elevation  of  eight  or  nine  hun- 
dred feet  ahove  the  sea,  which  then  stretched  for 
upwards  of  fifty  miles  along  the  wooded  hoi'tlers  of 
the  Red  and  Assinohoine  Rivers  which  flow  through 
a  level  country  of  vast  extent.  There  was  no  specu- 
lative motive  to  induce  him  to  color  his  picture  of 
this  region,  and  he  may  the  more  readily  be  relied 
on  when  he  states,  that  the  climate  is  saluhrious,  the 
soil  good,  horses,  cattle,  hogs  and  poultry  numerous ; 
and  that  wheat,  harley,  oats,  and  potatoes  thrive  well  iu 
the  vast  Red  River  Valley.     This  testimony  should 

288 


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t  fi  hi,< 


A  WINTEU  S    JOURNEY. 


289 


remove  the  suspicions  wLicli  some  have,  that  more 
recent  travelers  in  this  section  have  been  induced  to 
give  glowing  descriptions  thei'eof  from  mercenary- 
considerations. 

Mr.  Simpson  left  this  colony  on  the  1st  of  Decem- 
ber for  liis  winter  journey  of  one  thousand  tw*.)  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven  miles  to  Fort  Chipewyan,  the 
starting  point  of  the  expedition.  A  gay  cariole  and 
three  sledges  drawn  by  dogs,  with  three  picked  men 
as  drivers,  made  up  the  retinue.  Much  of  the  route 
lay  ovei'  the  frozen  channels  of  the  streams,  and  fre- 
quently the  tinklings  of  the  dog-bells  rous(^d  the 
moose-deer  from  their  lairs.  At  times  the  snow  w^as 
so  deep  that  snow-shoes  had  to  be  worn  by  the 
travelers.  Fort  Chipewyan,  where  Mr.  Dease  awaited 
his  comi)anion,  was  reached  on  the  first  of  February. 

The  travelers  took  their  departure  from  this  place 
on  the  1st  of  June  1887,  and  on  reaching  Great 
Slave  Lake,  ten  days  afterwards,  were  disappointed 
at  findinij:  it  covered  with  ice  which  detained  them 
till  the  21st  of  June — a  delny  which  they  beguiled 
with  hunting,  ajid  with  observing  the  wonderful 
mirage  of  this  region  and  the  games  and  sjwrts  of  the 
Indians.  A  dance  was  also  given  to  the  men  in 
which  the  Indian  women  joined.  It  furnished  nuich 
sport,  and  was  concluded  with  a  generous  su])per,  tea 
being  the  only  beverage.  The  games  of  the  people 
witliout  the  fort  were  generally  at  their  height  at 
midnight,  when  the  coolness  of  the  atmosphere  incited 
to  exertion. 

Fort  Norman  on  the  Mackenzie  River' was  reached 
on  the  1st  of  July,  and  on  the  9th,  the  Arctic  Ocean 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  seen,  and  saluted  with 
joyous  cheers.    As  the   season  was  favorable,  the 


V- 

i 

-•tlj 

i 

i. 


liH 


'-'■  Ti 


--ii 


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f  i 


290 


ON  THE  COASTS  OF  ALASKA. 


Mi-r 


um\ 


explorers  proceeded  westerly  along  the  coast,  and  on 
the  2'^^\  of  July  arrived  at  Return  Reef,  where  Frank- 
lin had  been  stopped.  Beyond  this  was  unexi)lored 
territory.  Pushing  on,  they  discovered  the  mouth  of 
a  river  and  named  it  the  Colville.  They  supi)osed  it 
to  be  a  large  one,  for  it  freshened  the  wutci's  of 
the  ocean  to  a  distance  of  three  leagues.  Their 
conclusions  were  right,  for  the  Colville  River,  now  in 
the  United  States  territory  of  Alaska,  has  since  been 
ascertained  to  be  a  thousand  miles  long. 

They  also  discovered  another  noble  river,  the  Garry, 
whose  mouth  was  a  mile  in  width.  Thouiih  the 
ground  was  frozen  four  inches  deep,  a  few  flowers 
cheered  the  eye  of  the  travelers.  On  t\\o,  1st  of 
August  the  party  had  arrived  within  tAvo  degrees  of 
Point  Barrow,  the  most  eastern  i)oint  reached  by  the 
barge  of  the  Blossom.  As  further  progress  was 
here  prevented  by  the  ice,  Simpson  with  five  com- 
panions pushed  on  afoot,  and  on  the  4tli  had  the 
great  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  long,  low  spit  of  land 
called  Point  Barrow  stretching  to  the  nortlnvard. 
On  reaching  it,  they  unfurled  the  British  flag  with 
three  cheers  and  took  possession  of  this  gravelly  cape 
in  the  name  of  their  king.  The  last  portion  of  the 
journey  to  Point  Barrow  had  been  made  in  an 
oomiak  which  was  borrowed  of  a  party  of  Esquimaux 
met  on  the  way.  The  landing  at  Point  Barrow  was 
made  at  a  place  half  way  between  a  winter  village 
and  summer  camp  of  the  natives,  and  in  the  vicinity 
was  an  immense  cemetery,  where  the  remnants  of 
humanity  lay  on  the  ground  in  the  usual  seal-skin 
clothing.  The  natives  were  generally  friendly,  but 
thievish. 

Having  reached  the  limit  of  their  explorations  in 


DOWN    JvSCAi'E    J:AI'1D. 


291 


this  direction,  the  whole  party  returned  to  winter- 
qiijirtei's  at  Great  Bear  Lake.  In  the  siinimer  of  18.38 
they  again  conimen(!ed  tlieir  travels,  and  on  the  25tli 
of  .Tune  were  nearing  the  mouth  of  the  Co])i)ennine. 
Fr.'inklin  had  descended  the  lower  part  of  this  river 
when  it  had  fallen  to  its  sunnner  level,  l)ut  Dease  and 
Simpson  were  swept  dow^n  it  l)y  the  spring  flood,  in 
wliich  floated  cakes  of  ice,  while  the  hanks  were  i>iled 
up  with  pondrous  fragments.  Mr.  Sim])S()n  thus 
describes  some  of  the  perils  of  the  ])assage  : — 

"  The  day  was  bright  and  lovely  as  we  shot  down 
rapid  after  rapid,  in  many  of  which  we  had  to  pull 
for  our  lives,  to  keep  out  of  the  suction  of  tlie  i)reci- 
pices,  along  whose  base  the  breakers  raged  and  foamed 
with  overwhelming  fury.  Shortly  before  noon  we 
came  in  sight  of  Escape  Raj)id  of  Fi-anklin,  and  a 
glance  at  the  overhanging  cliffs  told  us  that  there 
was  no  alternative  but  to  run  down  Avitli  a  full  carijo. 
In  an  instant  we  were  in  the  vortex,  and,  before  we 
were  awai'e,  my  boat  was  borne  toAvards  an  isolated 
rock,  which  the  boiling  surge  almost  concealed.  To 
clear  it  on  the  outside  was  no  longer  possible.  Our 
only  chance  of  safety  w^as  to  run  between  it  and  the 
lofty  eastern  cliff.  The  word  was  passed,  and  every 
breath  was  hushed.  A  stream,  which  dashed  down 
upon  us  over  the  brow  of  the  precipice,  more  than  a 
hundred  feet  in  height,  mingled  with  the  spray  that 
whirled  upw^ard  from  the  rapid,  forming  a  terrific 
shower-ljath.  The  pass  was  about  eight  feet  wide, 
and  the  error  of  a  sinsfle  foot  on  either  side  would 
have  been  instant  destruction.  As,  guided  by  Sin- 
clair's consummate  skill,  the  boat  shot  safely  through 
those  jaws  of  death,  an  involuntary  cheer  arose." 

On  the  1st  of  July  the  party  reached  the  sea,  and 


"  I  i  B 


fi 


1 


ilir 


292 


WINTER-QUARTERS  ON  GREAT  BEAR  LAKE. 


!■   '.i;- 


■;:,'- 


,  I 


on  the  ITtli  tlicy  started  to  coast  along  its  hIiotcm  to 
the  eastward.  On  arriving,  a])out  the  10th  of  August, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Point  Turn-again  the  l)oats  were 
arrested  by  ice.  On  the  20th,  Simpson  witli  seven 
men  started  on  a  walk  along  the  coast.  On  the  2.']d 
they  came  to  an  elevated  rocky  ridge  Avhich  Avas 
named  Ca[)e  Alexander.  On  ascending  it,  a  vast  and 
splendid  prospect  Lurst  suddenly  upon  the  travelers. 
The  sea,  as  if  transformed  l)y  enchantment,  rolled  its 
free  waves  at  their  feet,  and  extended  to  the  eastward 
as  ftir  as  could  be  seen.  Islands  of  various  shapes  and 
sizes  overspread  its  sui-face ;  and  the  northei-n  land 
terminated  to  the  eye  in  a  bold  and  lofty  cape  thirty 
or  forty  miles  distant.  On  the  extensi\e  land  to  the 
northward,  Simpson  bestoAved  the  name  of  Victoria, 
and  he  called  its  eastern  extremity  Cape  Pelly. 

After  surveying  nearly  one  hundred  and  forty  miles 
of  new  coast  easterly  of  Point  Turn-again,  the  foot 
party  returned  to  the  l)oats.  Early  in  Septem])er  the 
return  journey  up  the  Coppermine  was  commenced, 
and  on  the  14th  of  that  month  Fort  Confidence,  the 
old  Avinter-quarters  on  Great  Bear  Lake,  was  safely 
reached. 

Here  the  winter  of  1838-9  was  passed  by  the 
explorers,  and  in  June  1839,  undaunted  1)y  the  dan- 
gers and  privations  of  the  previous  season,  they  again 
started  on  their  third  successive  visit  to  the  Arctic 
Sea. 

On  the  3d  of  July  their  boats  emerged  from  the 
Coppermine,  and  sailing  eastward  the  party  encamped 
on  the  2Gth  at  Cape  Alexandei*.  Continuing  their 
voyage,  they  discovered,  on  the  10th  of  August,  a 
strait  three  miles  AA^ide  through  which  tliey  passed. 
Three  days  afterward,  they  were  delighted  at  reaching 
Cape  Ogle  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Fish  Kiver. 


IIETUKN    TO    UKD  IJIVEU   SlirrLK.MENT. 


293 


All  the  ()l)j(!cts  for  Mliicli  tlie  expedition  was  fitted 
out  hud  now  been  aceonii)lished.  The  nortlieiii  limits 
of  America  to  the  westward  of  the  (treat  Fish  or 
Buck's  Uiver  had  been  surveyed,  l>ut  it  still  remained 
a  (lucstion  whether  Jjoothia  might  not  he  nnited  to 
the  continent  on  the  other  side  of  the  estuary.  So 
the  ])ui'ty  pushed  on  to  a  j)oint  distant  altout  two 
dcu'recs  from  Point  Ogle,  where  thev  canu^  to  the 
month  of  a  river,  which  they  numed  the  Custor  und 
Pollux  after  their  two  boats.  This  river  was  tho 
limit  of  their  eastern  explorations. 

In  returning  to  the  Coppermine  River  they  crossed 
over  to  the  northern  side  of  the  strait,  and  traced  the 
southern  coast  of  King  William's  Island  for  about 
sixty  miles  till  it  turned  to  the  noi-th  at  Cape  Ilerschel, 
distant  ninety  miles  from  the  magnetic  pole.  Along 
these  same  dreary  coasts  the  party  of  Sir  John  Frank- 
lin attemjited  to  make  good  their  retreat  about  ten 
years  later;  and  one  of  his  boats,  with  skeletons,  guns, 
etc.,  was  subsecpiently  found  some  distance  above 
Cape  Herschel. 

The  explorers  also  surveyed  the  coasts  of  Victoria 
Land  for  a  long  distance,  and  reached  the  Coppermine 
on  the  inth  of  September,  having  made  a  voyage  of 
over  sixteen  hundred  miles  on  the  Polar  Sea — the 
longest  one  ever  made  thereon  in  open  boats. 

Mr.  Simpson  left  Fort  Confidence  on  the  2Gth  of 
September,  1839,  and  after  a  Journey  of  1910  miles 
m.'ide  on  foot  within  sixty-one  days,  he  arrived  at  lied 
River  Settlement  early  in  February,  1840.  Here  he 
reaiained  waiting  ^  '  'thority  from  England  to  pro- 
ceed on  a  new  exi>v;uit.  )n  which  he  had  proposed  to 
lead.  Deeply  mortified  at  not'  receiving  answers  to 
his  dispatches  as  soon  as  he  ex^^ected  them,  he  left 


1^ 


M 


'  litt 


l< 


!'■; 


Ilil 


.ll-i    ii 


294 


MU.    RIMPKON    MT'UDKUKD. 


tlio  scttlonient  on  tlio  0th  of  ,huw  -vvitli  n  party  of 
lialf-l)ivtMls  an<l  scttlcrH,  iiitt'iiding  to  cross  the  ])raii"ies 
to  St.  Peter's  on  tlie  Mis8issi])pi  Iliver,  and  theuee 
j)ro('ee(l  to  ICnghuul. 

Mr.  Simpson  sul)se(|ncntly  went  on  ahead  Avltli 
four  men,  and  l)eyond  tliis  all  that  is  known  witli 
certainty  is,  that  on  the  l.'Uh  of  June  Simpson  sliot 
two  of  his  eomi)anions;  that  the  other  two  rejoined 
the  larger  party,  and.  that  a  portion  thereof  went  to 
Ilia  encampment  on  the  next  morning  an<l  killed  him. 
Whether  he  shot  the  two  men  in  self-defence  or  when 
siiffei'ing  nnder  a  temporary  hallucination  of  mind 
was  never  known  hy  his  friends. 

Messrs.  Dease  and  Simpson  supposed  that  they  had 
sailed  to  the  eastward  of  Boothia,  and  that  the  isth- 
mus which  lloss  said  connected  Boothia  with  the 
continent,  did  not  exist.  To  exjdore  the  coast  line 
wdiich  was,  in  consequence  of  their  discoveries,  heliev- 
ed  to  extend  from  the  Castor  and  Pollux  easterly  to 
the  Fury  and  Ilecla  Strait — whose  waters  connect 
with  Hudson's  Bay — the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
sent  out  an  expedition  in  184(5  under  Dr.  John  Bae. 

Dr.  Ilae,  with  twelve  men  and  two  l)oats,  left  Fort 
York  on  the  12tli  of  June,  and  coasted  northerly  along 
the  westerly  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay.  On  the  24th 
of  July  they  anchored  at  the  head  of  Eepulse  Bay. 
They  then  j^roceeded  northerly,  taking  one  boat  with 
them,  over  an  isthmus  interspersed  with  lakes,  forty- 
three  miles  to  Committee  Bay,  the  southerly  extrem- 
ity of  Prince  Kegent's  Inlet.  Finding  that  the  sea- 
son was  too  far  advanced  to  complete  the  survey 
that  year,  Rae  determined,  wnth  a  boldness  and  con- 
fidence in  his  own  resources  that  has  never  been  sur- 
passed, to  winter  in  Repulse  Bay,  and  to  finish  his 


1)11.    IJAKS    K.M'LOUATIONS. 


20?) 


explonitlons  on  the  ice  the  lU'xt  spring.  ITo  therefore 
recroHsecl  the  istliinus  witli  liis  botit,  and  set  about 
o(>ll<'ctliig  provisions  and  fuel  for  a  ten  luoutlis'  winter. 

To  one  less  e.\])erieneed  and  hardy,  tluf  (lesolate 
shores  of  Repulse  Jiay  would  have  forbidden  such  an 
attempt.  They  yielded  neitlier  di'ift-wood  nor  shnd)- 
by  plants  of  any  kind;  but  Dr.  l*ae  employed  jmrt 
of  his  men  to  gather  the  withered  stems  of  a  small 
hci'bjiceous  ])lant  whic-h  gi'cw  in  abundance  on  the 
rocks,  and  <o  i»ile  it  in  cocks  like  hay:  olliers  he  set 
to  build  a  house  of  stone  and  earth  called  l''ort  Hope  ; 
M  Iiilc  lie  and  his  Es(piiinaux  interpreter  wei-e  occu- 
])i('d  ill  killing  deer  for  winter  food. 

Early  in  April,  1847,  llae  and  part  of  liis  men 
started  with  sledges  drawn  by  dogs,  and  after  again 
reacliinu:  Committee  Bay,  traveled  northerly  alonjjf  its 
western  shore,  and  on  the  18th  I'eached  the  Lord 
Mayor's  Bay  of  Sir  John  Ross,  on  whose  shores  the 
crew  of  the  lost  Victory  so  long  resided.  This  jour- 
ney j)roved  that  Ross  was  right  in  sup])osing  that 
Boothia  was  connected  with  the  continent,  ^o 
attem[)t  was  made  to  proceed  w^esterly  to  the  Castor 
and  Pollux,  and  the  party  immediately  set  out  on 
their  return  to  Fort  Hope. 

On  the  12th  of  May  Rae  started  to  examine  the 
"•>^'  1  coast  of  Committee  Bay,  and  on  the  27th  had 
1  d   his  farthest  point  .at  a  headland,  which  he 

ca;  Cape  Crozier,  situated  about  twenty  miles 
souih  of  the  west  end  of  the  Fuiy  and  Ilecla  Strait. 
He  then  returned  to  Repulse  Bay,  and  the  whole 
party  arrived  afely  at  Fort  Churchill  on  the  last  day 
of  August.  *■  'le  entire  expedition  had  been  an  emi- 
nently succ       il  one,  and  proved  that  Dr.  Rae  was 

Avell  calculu     1  for  an  Arctic  explorer. 

18 


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M'*i'j 


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J\-.  •! 


iiJi'  I  m 


CHAPTER  XXn. 

SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN'S  LAST  VOYAGE,  WITH 
A  SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE. 

One  of  the  most  enthusiastic  and  indefatigable  ex- 
plorers of  the  Arctic  regions  of  this,  or  any  other  age, 
was  Sir  John  Franklin.  His  history  as  an  eminent 
navigator, — his  persistent,  cheerful  zeal  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  a  favorite  object  through  obstacles,  dan- 
gers, and  oftentimes  intense  suffering,  ^von  for  him  the 
admiration  and  respect  of  the  civilized  world ;  and 
especially  has  the  uncertainty  of  his  fate  excited  an 
almost  universal  interest. 

John  Franklin  was  born  at  Spilsby,  Lincolnshire, 
England,  April  16th,  1786.  He  was  the  youngest  son 
of  a  respectable  farmer  in  moderate  circumstances, 
with  a  family  of  twelve  children  to  provide  for  and 
educate.  John  was  intended  by  his  parents  for  the 
Church,  and  at  an  early  age  was  placed  in  a  grammar 
school  to  prepare  ultimately  for  the  ministry.  But 
his  tastes  led  him  in  a  different  direction.  He  had  a 
passion  for  the  sea.  While  a  school-boy  at  Louth,  he 
took  advantage  of  a  holiday  to  walk  twelve  miles, 
with  a  companion,  to  look  at  the  ocean,  which  he  then 
beheld  for  the  first  time.  The  effect  upon  his  mind 
was  wonderful.  He  gazed  upon  it  for  hours  with 
emotion?  of  intense  delight,  and  from  that  day  his 

296 


LIFE    OF     SIR    JOUN    FRANKLIN. 


297 


heart  burned  as  it  never  did  before,  to  trace  its  bound- 
aries and  explore  its  mysteries. 

His  father,  thinking  his  son  carried  away  by  a  boy- 
ish romance,  and  that  he  had  no  idea  of  the  unpoet- 
ical  shade  of  a  sailor's  life,  hoped  that  a  little  expe- 
rience of  its  hardships  and  discomforts  would  break 
the  charm,  and  cure  him  of  his  folly.  Accordingly  he 
gave  John  permission  to  make  a  voyage  in  a  merchant 
vessel  to  Lisbon.  But  the  experiment  proved  an  un- 
fortunate one,  so  far  as  the  father's  wishes  were  con- 
oornccl,  for  it  only  served  to  intensify  the  boy's  passion 
for  a  sea-faring  life.  Mr.  Franklin,  becoming  convinced 
that  it  was  useless  to  attempt  any  longer  to  change 
the  propensity  of  his  son,  yielded  to  his  wih^hcs,  and 
procured  for  him  a  position  in  the  navy  as  a  midship- 
man, at  the  age  of  fourteen.  He  was  jdaced  on  board 
the  Polyphemus,  a  ship  of  the  line,  and  served  in  her 
at  the  battle  of  Copenhagen,  April  2d,  1801.  During 
the  engagement,  a  young  midshipman  and  comrade 
was  shot  dead  standing  by  his  side. 

In  the  ensuing  summer  he  was  more  pleasantly  em- 
ployed on  board  tlie  Investigator,  a  government 
ship  commanded  by  his  cousin,  Captain  Flinders,  who 
was  commissioned  to  explore  the  coasts  of  Australia. 
After  nearly  two  years  spent  in  this  service,  which 
was  an  excellent  preparatory  school  to  qualify  him 
f(  r  future  pursuits,  he  with  the  officers  and  crew  sailed 
for  home  in  the  Porpoise,  a  store-ship — the  Investi- 
gator having  been  condemned  as  unseaworthy. 
Hut  the  Porpoise,  shortly  after  leaving  port,  was 
wrecked  upon  a  reef  about  two  hundred  miles  from 
Australia.  Here  he  and  his  companions  remained  fifty 
(lays,  upon  a  small  sand-bank,  until  relief  came  to 
them   from   Port  Jackson.      The  crew  was  now  dia- 


)  'i 


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p  Am  H 


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298 


LIFE    OF    SIR    JOHN    FRANKLIN. 


persed,  and  Franklin  was  taken  to  Canton,  where  he 
obtained  a  passage  to  England  on  board  an  armed  In- 
diaman.  On  their  way  home  they  were  attacked  by 
a  French  man-of-war,  which,  after  a  severe  conflict, 
was  compelled  to  retire  in  a  crippled  condition.  Dur- 
ing the  battle,  young  Franklin  distinguished  himself 
for  bravery  and  efficiency. 

On  reaching  England  he  was  ordered  to  Join  the  ship- 
ofthe-line,  Bolleroplion,  and  in  1805  took  part  in  the 
memorable  battle  of  Trafiilgar,  in  Adiich  ho  discharged 
the  responsible  duties  of  signal  midshipman,  with  re- 
markable coolness  and  courage,  in  the  midst  of  a  hot 
and  most  destructive  fire  from  the  enemy's  sharp-shoot- 
ers. Of  forty  persons  who  stood  around  him  on  the 
poop  of  the  ship,  many  fell,  and  only  seven  escaped 
unhurt. 

Subsequent  to  this,  he  served  six  years  on  board  the 
Bedford,  on  various  stations,  the  last  of  which  was  ou 
the  coast  of  the  United  States,  during  the  war  of  1812 
-15.  He  commanded  the  boats  of  the  Bedford  in  a 
battle  with  the  American  gun-boats  at  New  Orleans, 
one  of  which  he  boarded  and  captured,  though  at  the 
expense  of  a  severe  wound.  For  his  gallantry  in  this 
action,  he  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy. 

In  1818  Franklin  made  his  first  Arctic  voyage  as 
connnander  of  the  Trent,  and  witli  Captain  Buchan 
attempted  to  sail  over  the  North  Pole.  In  1819  ho 
started  on  his  first  great  overland  journey  to  the 
sliores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  which  occupied  about 
three  years. 

In  1823  he  was  married  to  Eleanor  Porden,  daugh- 
ter of  an  eminent  architect,  a  lady  of  superior  abil- 
ities, who  distinguished  herself  at  a  very  early  fige 
by  her  remarkable  attainments  in  Greek  and  Latin, 


LIFE    OF    SIR    JOHN    FRANKLIN. 


299 


and  also  in  several  modern  lanfjuages.  She  was  also 
a  proficient  in  botany,  chemistry,  and  geology.  She 
was,  in  addition,  a  poetess  of  no  ordinary  promise. 
In  1818,  she  published  the  "Arctic  Expedition" — a 
poem.  This  led  to  her  acquaintance  with  Franklin, 
to  whom  she  was  united  in  marriage  in  1823. 

About  a  vear  and  a  li(df  after  his  marriage,  Frank- 
lin  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  another  over- 
land expedition  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  The  appoint- 
ment, though  in  accordance  with  his  chivalric  enthusi- 
astic nature,  was,  in  one  respect,  very  inopportune. 
His  devoted  wife  was  in  a  rapid  decline,  and  evidently 
drawing  near  her  end.  When  the  day  assigned  for 
his  departure  arrived,  she  was  lying  at  the  point  of 
death.  To  leave  her,  in  such  circumstances,  was  like 
tearing  out  his  heart-strings;  but  she  insisted  that  he 
should  not  delay  his  departure  an  hour  on  her  account, 
and  as  he  took  his  leave  of  her,  she,  with  a  kiss,  gave 
him  as  a  parting  gift,  a  silk  flag,  with  a  request  that 
he  would  hoist  it  on  reaching  the  Polar  Sea,  which  he 
did.  She  died,  much  lamented,  the  day  after  her 
husband  left  England. 

On  his  return  from  his  two  overland  journeys, 
Franklin  published  narratives  thereof;  no  one  can 
read  them  without  deep  respect  and  admiration  for 
the  l)rave  Christian  spirit  which  sustained  him  and  his 
companions  during  the  most  appalling  hardships. 
The  most  interesting  portions  of  these  narratives  have 
been  given  in  preceding  chapters. 

In  1828,  Franklin  was  married  to  Miss  Jano  Grifltin, 
daughter  of  John  Griffin  Esq.,  and  born  about  1800. 
She  still  survives,  and  has  distinguished  herself  the 
world  over,  by  her  public  spirit,  and  her  indomitable 
perseverance  in  search  of  her  lost  husband.     In  the 


a<i 


/- 


!l'l 


r  !i   .''^^' 


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i ;; 


K;;ni 


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m 


300 


LIFE    OF     SIR    JOUN    FRANKLIN. 


same  year  he  published  .a  narrative  of  liis  second  ex- 
pedition, which  did  him  much  credit.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  he  was  knighted,  and  received  an  honorary 
degree  from  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  a  gold 
medal  from  a  learned  society  in  Paris. 

In  1830,  Sir  John,  as  he  was  from  that  time  called, 
was  put  in  command  of  the  Kainbow,  and  ordered  to 
cruise  in  the  Mediterranean.  While  absent,  he  had 
opportunity  of  rendering  important  service  to  the 
Groek'j,  who  were  then  struggling  to  throw  off  the 
Turkish  yoke,  under  which  they  had  long  been  sorely 
oppressed.  In  recognition  of  his  kindness.  King  Otho 
decorated  him  with  the  cross  of  the  "  Redeemer  of 
Greece."  Probaldy  no  commander  of  a  ship  ever  paid 
more  attention  to  the  comfort  of  those  ])laced  under 
him  than  Franklin,  and  the  sailors  expressed  their 
sense  of  his  kindness  by  calling  his  vessel  the  "  Celes- 
tial Rainbow,"  and  "  Franklin's  Paradise." 

In  183o,  he  was  appointed  governor  of  A^'an  Die- 
men's  Land,  which  position  he  held  till  18-13.  Ilis  ad- 
ministration in  this  colony  was  remarkably  popular 
and  useful.  He  originated,  and  executed  many  impor- 
tant measures  for  the  benefit  ot  the  colonists,  for 
which  they  made  both  public  and  private  demonstra- 
tions of  their  gratitude.  He  founded  a  colk'ge  and 
endowed  it  largely  from  his  own  funds,  to  I)e  con- 
ducted on  the  most  liberal  principles,  without  distinc- 
tion of  sect. 

When  he  resio-ned  his  office  and  returned  to  P]ngland, 
universal  regret  was  expressed  by  the  people  of  the 
colony.  On  the  day  of  his  departure,  a  more  numer- 
ous gathering  than  had  ever  been  seen  on  the  island, 
attended  him  to  the  ship,  and  lie  was  much  gratified 
by  receiving  compUnieulary  and  affectionate  addresses 


FRANKLINS    LAST    VOYAGE. 


301 


from  every  district  in  the  colony.  As  evidence  of  the 
aifection  these  remote  colonists  cherished  for  him, 
they,  years  afterward,  spontaneously  raised  nearly 
$10,000,  and  forwarded  it  to  Lady  Franklin  to  aid  her 
in  fitting  out  an  expedition  to  search  for  her  missing 
husband. 

Notwithstanding  the  numerous  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts to  discover  a  North-west  passage  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  it  was  still  the  firm  belief  of  scientific  men  that 
such  a  passage  did  exist,  and  the  desire  to  solve  the 
problem  of  centuries  was  undiminished ;  although 
reasonable  men  had  long  been  convinced  that  if  such 
a  passage  was  found,  the  dangers  and  difiiculties  of 
navigating  the  Northern  seas  were  so  great  as  to  pre- 
clude the  use  of  it  ibr  purposes  of  commerce. 

England  especially  was  ambitious  of  the  honor  of 
proclaiming  to  the  world  that  the  great  question  was 
settled,  and  was  also  actuated  by  a  more  laudable  desire 
to  promote  the  interests  of  science.  Although  she  had 
already  expended  much  treasure,  and  sacrificed  many 
valuable  lives  in  the  luidertaking  which  liad  long  been 
the  dream  of  her  philosophers,  she  determined  to  make 
another  attempt  to  accomplish  it. 

Accordingly,  in  1845,  the  two  ship.s,  the  "Erebus" 
and  "  Terror,"  in  which  Sir  John  Clarke  Ross  had  just 
returned  from  liis  career  of  discovery  in  the  Southern 
seas,  were  fitted  out.  Both  were  of  moderate  size, 
and  renowned  for  their  fitness  to  encounter  ice.  They 
were  now  provided  with  snudl  steam  engines  and 
sorew  propellers,  and  a  three  years'  su))ply  of  every 
thing  that  could  contribute  to  the  health  and  comfort 
of  voyagers  in  the  Arctic  regions.  The  vessels  were  also 
furnished  with  ship-stores,  tools,  nautical  instrument's, 
fire-arms,  and  a  large  supply  ot  ainunition;  in  shorty 


III 


"i 


:    I 


^1:1 


r ' 


t*  •'' 


■'■ .;. 


302 


FRANKLIN   8    LAST    VOYAGE. 


with  every  thing  imagination  and  experience  could 
suggest,  that  would  be  needful  for  officers  and  crew. 

It  was  hardly  a  question  with  the  Admiralty,  who 
should  be  appointed  to  the  command  of  this  enter- 
prise,— it  was  Sir  John  Franklin,  of  course.  No  other 
man  in  England  was  better  qualified  for  this  impor- 
tant and  perilous  undertaking.  He  had  talent,  sound 
judgment,  kindness  of  heart,  large  experience,  and 
had  lost  none  of  his  youthful  enthusiasm  for  adventure, 
although  nearly  sixty  years  of  age.  The  achievement 
of  a  "  North-west  passage  "  had  been  the  day-dream  of 
his  life,  and  he  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  make 
another  attempt  for  the  realization  of  his  long-cher- 
ished hopes.  lie  unhesitatingly  accepted  the  ap- 
pointment. 

The  second  in  command  w{is  Captain  Francis  R.  M. 
Crozier,  a  bold  and  experienced  navigator,  who  had 
been  with  Parry  in  all  his  northern  voyages,  and  was 
second  officer  in  command  of  the  Antarctic  expedition 
under  Ross.  Crozier  was  appointed  captain  of  the 
Terror,  and  Franklin  sailed  in  tlie  Erebus.  The  crews 
of  these  two  vessels,  amounting  in  all,  including  offi- 
cers, to  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  souls,  were 
picked  men,  hardy,  experienced,  bold,  reliable,  and 
enthusiastic. 

Frankliu  was  instructed  to  proceed  through  Lancas- 
ter Sound,  and  westward  in  the  latitude  of  74  i°  until 
he  reached  the  longitude  of  98°  west.  From  that 
point  he  was  to  penetrate  to  the  southwest  towards 
Behring's  Straits. 

The  ships  sailed  on  the  19th  of  May,  1845,  accom- 
panied by  a  tender  with  additional  supplies.  This 
tender  was  dismissed  in  Davis's  Strait,  and  letters  from 
the  officers  and  crew  carried  back — the  last  ever  re- 


F  U  A  N  K  L  I  iN   S    LA  til    VOYAGE. 


303 


ccived  from  them.  One  of  the  men  wrote  as  follows : 
— "I  need  hardly  tell  you  how  much  we  are  all  delighted 
with  our  captain.  He  has,  I  am  sure,  won  not  only  the 
respect  but  the  love  of  every  person  on  board,  by  his 
amiable  manner  and  kindness  to  all ;  and  his  influence 
is  always  employed  for  some  good  purpose,  both 
among  the  ollicors  and  men.  lie  takes  an  active  part 
in  everything  that  goes  on." 

A  letter  which  Sir  John  wrote  to  his  friend  Colonel 
Sabine,  contained  the  following:  — 

"I  hope  my  dear  wife  and  daughter  will  not  be  over- 
anxious if  we  should  not  return  l>y  the  tiuie  they  have 
fixed  upon ;  and  I  must  beg  of  you  to  give  them  the 
benefit  of  your  advice  and  experience  when  that  time 
arrives,  for  you  knov/  well  that  without  success  in  our 
object,  even  after  the  second  winter,  we  should  wish 
to  try  i-ome  other  cliannel  if  the  state  of  our  provis- 
ions and  the  health  of  the  crews  justify  it." 

The  ships  started  nortlnvard  again  on  the  loth  of 
July;  on  the  2Ctli  of  July  they  were  spoken  near  lat- 
itude 75°  by  the  whaler  Prince  of  Wales,  which  was 
boarded  by  seven  officers  of  the  expedition,  who  in- 
vited the  captain  to  dine  with  Sir  John  on  the  follow- 
ing day.  But  as  a  breeze  fivoraljle  for  tlie  wiialer 
sprang  up  in  the  night,  its  captain  set  sail  without 
receiving  on  board  any  of  the  letters  which  the  ex- 
plorers doubtless  intended  to  give  him  1)efore  he  left 
them.  When  the  Prince  of  Wales  left  the  two  ships, 
they  were  moored  to  an  ice-berg. 

This  was  the  last  ever  seen  of  the  "  Erebus  "  and 
"  Terror,"  iind  the  last  direct  intelligence  that  has  been 
received  from  Sir  John  Franklin  and  his  men  to  this  day. 
Years  elapsed  before  any  indication  of  their  fate  or  the 
fumtest  trace  of  the  lost  explorers  were  discovered. 


i4 


'•■t 


[^' 


•  .  J'  ,: 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
SEARCHES  FOR  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN. 

(expeditions  of  1848.) 

As  the  year  1847  drew  to  a  close  without  bringing 
any  intelligence  from  Franklin,  great  solicitude  for 
his  safety  was  felt  in  England,  and  the  government 
resolved  to  send  out  three  distinct  expeditions  to 
search  for  him.  Each  of  these  was  to  have  its  own 
independent  route,  but  all  were  to  conv(M*ge  toward 
the  Arctic  Archij)elago,  through  whose  intricate  and 
unexplored  channels  and  sounds  Fi'anklin  was  supposed 
to  be  striN'ing  to  force  his  way.  One  of  these  expe- 
ditions was  to  sail  direct  to  Lancaster  Sound,  and 
follow  in  the  track  of  the  missing  ships;  another  was 
to  proceed  overland  down  the  Mackenzie  River,  and 
examine  the  coasts  of  the  continent ;  and  the  third 
was  to  go  by  way  of  Bering's  Sti'aits. 

The  command  of  the  first  named  expedition  was 
given  to  Captain  James  C.  Ross,  who  sailed  from 
England,  June  l:]tli,  1848,  with  two  ships,  the  Enter- 
prise and  Investigator — the  latter  being  commanded 
by  Captain  E.  J.  Bird.  Each  ship  was  provided  with 
a  steam  launch.  The  passage  through  Baffin's  Bay 
was  difficult  and  tedious,  and  Lancaster  Sound  was 
not  reached  till  nearly  the  last  of  August.     At  its 

304 


JAMES   C.    KOSS  S   EXPEDITION. 


305 


entrance  and  while  sailing  along  its  coasts,  the  shores 
were  carefully  scrutinized  for  traces  of  Fi'anklin. 
Guns  were  fired  when  foggy;  rockets  and  lights  were 
fre(]uently  l)urned  ;  and  rasks  containing  information 
for  the  benefit  of  the  missing  men  were  daily  thrown 
overboard. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  Ross  reached  Cape  York 
at  the  east  side  of  tlie  entrance  to  Prince  Regent's 
Inlet.  He  then  crossed  the  inlet,  and  coasted  the 
northern  shores  of  Barrow's  Strait,  far  enough  to  see 
that  Wellington  Channel  was  firmly  frozen.  On  the 
11th  of  SeptemlxT  he  with  great  difficulty  reaehed 
Port  Le<)})()ld,  which  is  situated  at  the  Junction  of 
the  four  great  channels,  Lancaster  Sound,  Banvnv's 
Strait,  Wellington  Channel,  and  Pi'ince  Regent's  In- 
let. The  next  day  the  ice-pack  closed  the  mouth  of 
the  harbor  and  the  ex]iedition  was  fast  for  the  winter, 
which  the  cr(;ws  ])nssed  in  a  comfortable  manner. 

Over  fifty  white  foxes  were  taken  alive  during  the 
season  in  traps  constructed  of  casks,  and  after  being 
fitted  to  copper  collars  upon  which  were  engraved  the 
position  of  the  shi{)s  and  ])i'ovision  depots,  they  Avere 
set  at  liberty,  in  the  hope  that  some  of  them  might  l)e 
caught  by  Franklin's  nuMi. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  Ross  and  Lieut.  McClintock 
with  twelve  men,  made  a  journey  to  the  south,  and 
examined  the  northern  and  western  shores  of  North 
Somerset,  but  found  no  traces  of  Franklin,  and  the 
party  returned  to  the  shi})s,  June  23d,  in  an  ex- 
hausted condition.  In  their  absence  other  unsuccess- 
ful searches  had  been  made,  and  one  party  visited 
the  house  on  Fury  Point  in  which  Sir  John  Ross 
passed  the  winters  of  lS.'V2-3. 

It  was  now  midsummer,  but  the  Enterprise  and 


T>^i**  i^tfi 


^'^^ 


!\\    mi*" 


w^M 


IP'  Uv 

If  I 


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!•     'f 


I  1     t 


tSf  1 


4  1--^:^  it 


If  111,  :  "•     ** 


30G 


8EAUCIIES    FOR   FRANKLIN. 


Investigator  were  still  l^loclvaded  l>y  the  ice.  rj('j)a- 
rations  for  leaving  were  however  made,  and,  as  a 
refuge  for  lost  explorers,  a  house  covered  Avitli  can- 
vas was  erected  on  the  shore  of  8])ars  and  other  ma- 
terial. A  large  supply  of  provisions  was  stored 
therein ;  and  one  of  the  launches  was  put  in  good 
order,  to  l)e  left  hehiiid. 

After  an  imprisonment  in  the  ice  of  one  year  less 
fourteen  days,  the  ships  were  lil)erated  on  the  2St]i 
of  August,  and  steered  toward  the  northern  shore  of 
Barrow's  Strait ;  l)ut  they  Avere  soon  surrounded  Ly 
ice,  and  it  seemed  prohahle  that  they  would  remain 
therein  for  another  winter.  Soon  afterwai'd,  however, 
the  M'hole  body  of  ice  hegan  to  drive  to  the  eastwai'd, 
and  the  shi])S  were  carried  with  it  through  Lancaster 
Sound  and  down  the  westerly  shores  of  Baffin's  Bay. 
Here  a  great  nnmher  of  icebergs  sti'etched  across 
the  ])ath,  and  presented  the  crews  a  fearful  jn-ospect  of 
the  destruction  of  their  vessels.  But  when  least  ex- 
pected by  them,  the  great  ice-floe  was  rent  into  innu- 
merable fragments,  as  if  by  some  unseen  powei",  and 
the  vessels  were  i-eleased  from  its  grasji.  But  it 
was  evident  that  the  hunt  of  the  Enterpi'ise  and 
Investigator  was  over  for  that  season  ;  so  the}^  "were 
turned  homeward,  and  reached  Eniiland  in  November 
1840.  The  searchers  had  found  no  clue  as  to  where 
the  lost  exploi'ers  were,  but  had  learned  of  some 
j)laces  where  they  were  not. 

The  overland  search  for  Franklin  M'as  entrusted  to 
Sir  John  Richardson  assisted  by  Dr.  John  Rae. 
These  gentlemen  left  Liverj)ool  March  Sath,  bS48, 
and  reached  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  territ  mt, 
via  New  York  and  Montreal.  Proceeding  thencc  lO 
Great  Slave  Lake  by  the  usual  route,  they  crossed  it, 


lUCHAUDSON    AND    llAES    EXrEUlTION. 


807 


and  entered  the  Maclvon/Zie  Tvlvcr,  July  21st.  The 
ssea  was  reached  early  in  August,  and  here  E8(|uimaux 
■were  met  in  gieat  nund)ers — all  anxious  to  trade,  or 
steal,  as  opportunity  offered  ;  but  of  Franklin  or  his 
shii)s  they  knew  nothing. 

After  entering  the  Arctic  Ocean,  T?i  chard  son  coasted 
eastward  for  some  eight  hundred  miles,  lio])ing  to 
reach  and  ascend  the  Co]>2iennine  Kiver;  l)ut  when 
near  its  mouth,  ice  pi-evented  further  ])rogi'('ss  of  the 
boats,  and  they  were  hauled  into  a  safe  position,  as 
far  as  the  elements  were  C(mcerned,  and  abandoned 
■with  nearly  all  their  contents.  It  was  subsetpiently 
ascertained  that  the  goods  were  a])i)ropriated  by  the 
Esquimaux,  who  also  destroyed  the  boats  to  secure 
the  iron  and  copper  used  in  their  construction. 

The  party  noAV  i)i'oceeded  on  foot  to  the  Copper- 
mine Kiver  and  up  its  valley,  and  reached  Fort  Con- 
fidence on  Great  Bear  Lake,  Sept.  ]  r)th.  Ilej-e  they 
passed  the  Avinter.  The  next  summer,  Di*.  Kae  with 
six  men  descended  the  Coppermine  for  the  purpose 
of  searching  the  coasts  of  Wollaston  and  Victoria 
Land ;  but  the  strait  was  so  full  of  ice  that  lie  could 
not  cross  it,  and  the  party  returned  to  Fort  Confidence 
at  the  close  of  August.  Dr.  Kichardson  left  the  fort 
on  the  7th  of  May,  and  i-eached  Liverj)ool  in  Novem- 
ber after  an  absence  of  nineteen  months.  Not  the 
slightest  information  of  Franklin  had  been  obtained; 
but  provisions  and  letters  were  buried  in  several 
places,  and  signal  posts  indicating  the  precise  spots 
set  up  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  castaways  if 
they  chanced  to  come  that  -way. 

The  expedition  by  way  of  Bering's  Strait  was  put 
under  command  of  Captain  Henry  Kellett,  of  the 
ship  Herald,  which  was   then   in  the   Pacific.     On 


308 


SEAKCIIES   FOR    FKANKLIN. 


I  iff,  F' '''»  ,  .w' 


^ 


iir-'^ 


'f': 


receiving  instructions  from  home  to  that  effect,  Kel- 
lett  proceeded  to  Kotzehuo  Sound,  hut  returned  to 
winter  at  the  Sandwich  Ishmds.  Another  vessel,  the 
Pkiver,  commanded  l>y  Thomas  E.  L.  Moore,  started 
from  Enghind  January  Ist,  1848,  to  join  the  Herald, 
and  passed  the  winter  of  1848-9  at  Noovel,  Kam- 
chatka. 

On  the  14th  of  July,  1840,  the  Plover  anchored  off 
Chamisso  Island,  Kotzebue  Sound,  the  appointed 
rendezvous,  where  she  was  joined  the  ntixt  day  by 
the  Herald,  and  hy  the  j^acht  Nancy  Dawson,  in 
which  its  owner,  Robert  Shedden,  had  started  on  a 
pleasure  trip  around  the  world.  AVhile  in  China,  Mr. 
Shedden  heard  of  the  intended  expedition,  and  resolved 
to  join  it  in  the  search  for  Franklin. 

On  the  18th,  the  three  vessels  sailed  north,  and  on 
the  25th  had  reached  ley  Cape.  At  this  point  an 
expedition  of  four  l)oats  under  Lieut.  Pullen,  accom- 
panied by  the  yacht,  proceeded  up  the  coast  as  far  as 
Dease's  Inlet.  The  yacht  and  two  of  the  boats  then 
returned  to  the  ships,  which  meantime  had  cruised  to 
the  north  until  ice  was  encountered.  Lieut.  Pullen, 
with  the  other  two  boats,  continued  the  search  easterly 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie,  which  he  ascended, 
reaching  Fort  Simpson  on  the  18th  of  October.  Here 
he  wintered  ;  and  in  the  following  season  he  descend- 
ed the  river,  and  remained  on  the  sea  coast  till  the 
first  of  September.  Eeturning  to  Fort  Simpson  he 
proceeded  to  England,  and  again  joined  in  the  search 
as  commander  of  the  North  Star. 

In  September,  the  three  vessels  rendezvoused  in 
Kotzebue  Sound,  and  on  the  29th  of  that  month, 
leaving  the  Plover  to  winter  there,  the  Herald  and 
the  Nancy  Dawson  started  south.     The  gallant  Shed- 


TIIK    HEKALD    AND    PLOVEK. 


809 


den,  who  Imd  taken  an  active  and  daring  part  in  the 
Hunnner's  search,  died  at  Mazatlan  soon  afterward. 

In  July,  1850,  tlie  Ilerahl  again  joined  the  Plover 
at  the  rendezvous,  and  the  two  vessels  started  noi'tli 
together,  but  on  encountering  ice  separated.  The 
coast  V)etween  Icy  Cape  atid  Point  Harrow  was  care- 
fully examined  by  the  Plover.  The  two  vessels  met 
again  in  August,  and  fell  in  with  the  Enterprise — 
Ca[)tain  Collinson — which  had  just  arrived  to  join  in 
the  search.  When  winter  came  on  the  Herald  sailed 
for  England,  and  the  Plover  anchored  in  Grantley 
Harbor.  At  a  subsequent  date  the  Plover  also  re- 
turned home. 


^ 


r 


^^ 


i' 


^. 


i--'-''^l 


ill         w 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
SEARCHES  FOR  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN. 

(EXPEDITIO:jfS    OF    1850.) 

Frvi'j  years  had  now  ipsed  since  Franklin  left 
England,  and  not  a  word  had  been  heard  from  him 
since  the  Prince  of  Wales  parted  from  the  Erebus  and 
Terror  in  Baffin's  Bay.  Hojies  were  however  enter- 
tained that  the  missing  explorers  were  stili  alive,  and 
the  desire  to  rescue  them  became  intense.  The  search, 
in  which  the  United  States  now  joined,  Avas  accord- 
ingly renewed  with  increased  vigor.  Several  fresh 
expeditions  were  dispatched  from  England  to  the 
scene  of  action.  One  of  them  consisting  of  two  ships, 
the  Enterprise  and  Investigator,  under  Collinson  and 
McClure,  sailed  for  Bering's  Strait,  via  Caj)e  Horn ; 
and  others,  whose  history  is  given  in  this:  chapter, 
took  the  old  route  up  Baffin's  Bay. 

The  most  important  of  these  expeditions  via  B."  ffin's 
Bay,  was  entrusted  to  the  conmand  of  Captain  il.  T. 
Austin,  and  comprised  tv/o  ships--the  Resolute  and 
Assistance — and  two  screw  steamers — the  Pioneer 
and  Intrepid.  These  vessels  were  commanded  respect- 
ively by  Captain  Austin,  Captain  E.  Ommaney,  Lieut. 
S.  Osborne,  and  Lieut.  B.  Cator.  Captain  Austin's 
squadron  sailed  from  England  in  May,  1850,  its  par- 

310 


AUSTIN  a    SQUADRON. 


nil 


ticuLar  mission  heing  to  search  the  shores  of  Welling- 
ton Cliannel,  and  Melville  Island. 

The  season  proved  an  imfavoralde  one  for  Arctic 
navigation,  and  the  ships,  being  beset  by  ice  in  Mel- 
ville  Bay,  did  not  reach  Lancaster  Sound  till  August. 
The  Assistance  and  Intrepid  undertook  the  exaiiiiiia- 
tion  of  the  north  shores  of  tliis  sound,  and  on  tlie  28d 
readied  Cape  Riley,  at  the  entrance  to  Wellington 
Channel,  where  were  found  the  first  traces  of  the 
lost  expedition.  The  Rescue,  one  of  the  U.  S.  explor- 
ing vessels,  was  also  at  Cape  Riley  at  the  time  and 
shared  in  this  discovery. 

Soon  afterward  sevei'al  ships  of  other  ex^ieditions 
wore  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Riley ;  and  on 
Beechey  Island,  three  miles  distant  from  the  cape, 
were  fomid  very  interesting  relics  of  Franklin's  party, 
and  the  craves  of  tliree  of  his  men.  All  Avent  to  show 
that  the  crews  of  the  Erebus  and  Terror  had  here 
made  their  first  winter-rpiarters.  Dr.  Kane,  of  the 
Advance,  carefully  examined  all  these  traces  of  Frank- 
lin, and  liis  descriptions  thereof  will  be  found  in  a 
f;uhse(pient  chapter  of  this  book. 

Leaving;  Beechev  Island  and  sailinnj  Avesterlv,  Aus- 
tin's  squadron  reached  a  position  between  Cornwallis 
Island  and  (xriffith's  Island  where  the  vessels  were 
frozen  in  the  ice  for  the  winter.  In  the  spring,  sledge 
excursions  were  made  along  Farry's  Strait.  Ca]>tain 
Ommaney  with  one  hundred  and  four  men  and  four- 
teen sledges,  traveled  four  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
— two  hundred  and  five  of  Avhidi  had  ne\  er  been 
exjilored.  In  this  journey,  occupying  sixt}'  days, 
sails  were  occasionally  hoisted  on  the  sledges,  and 
large  kites  were  also  attached.     When  the  wind  was 

high,  these  aids  propelled  the  .dedge  very  rapidly, 

19 


■V. 


*<*■'■ 


^..^^ 


hi;    fill  ll'i      ■' 

I"- 1  III 


if'  A  f 


itl« 


t  Hi      '  I  f       T    I  ~  I     '  .1 


i'\ 


S12 


SEARCHES    FOR   FUANKLIX. 


and  tlie  wliole  of  the  pui'ty  then  rode ;  hut  when  the 
wind  fell,  the  sledges,  with  their  pi'ovisions  and  stores, 
had  to  he  dragged  ])y  main  force  over  the  ice  hy  tlie 
men  harnessed  to  them. 

A  s<.'cond  sledge  excursion,  under  Lieut.  McClin- 
tock,  traveled  seven  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  discov- 
ered forty  miles  of  coast,  and  achieved  the  furthest 
Avesting  that  had  ever  been  attained  in  this  part  of 
the  Polar  Sea— a  point  in  latitude  74"^  88^  and  longi- 
tude lU^  20'.  To  the  north  of  Bank's  Land  and  at 
a  distance  of  about  seventy  miles,  he  discovered  a 
rang(!  of  land  appareutly  running  nearly  due  west. 
Followiiiii:  the  coast  of  Melville  Lsland  to  the  north- 
east,  he  entered  Liddon  Gulf,  and  here  saw  fi'iigmcnts 
of  coal  of  good  fpiality.  Li  June  he  found  ]\irry's 
encampment  of  1820,  and  the  "strong  hut  light  cart" 
in  wiiich  Pai'iy  carried  his  tent  and  stores,  and  the 
kettle  containing  the  cylinder  in  which  was  enclosed 
Pai'i'v's  record.  Placing  the  kettle  over  the  tire,  the 
cylinder  was  thawt'^.  out  and  the  record  carefully 
unfolded;  Init  nothing  hut  the  date  could  be  distin- 
guished. INicClintock  then  struck  across  the  land  to 
Winter  Harbor,  another  of  Parry's  encampments, 
which  evidently  had  not  been  visited  since  1820. 
The  inscri])tion  there  cut  on  a  large  sandstone  boul- 
der was  still  le<2:il)le.  On  the  Oth  of  June  he  started 
to  return  to  the  ship,  and  reached  it  July  4th. 

These  searches  having  resulted  in  finding  no  traces 
of  tlie  Erebus  and  Terror  west  and  north  of  the  mouth 
of  Wellington  Channel,  Austin  concluded  that  they 
had  probably  steered  for  the  Polar  Sea  thi'ough  Jones' 
Sound,  and  he  therefore  visited  that  locality  with  his 
two  steamers.  After  going  up  the  sound  some  forty- 
five  miles  he  was  arrested  by  a  fixed  banier  of  ice. 


SIR   JOHN    Ross's    EXPEDITION. 


313 


lie  found  no  traces  of  Frunkliu's  party,  and,  conclud- 
ing tliat  any  furtlier  effort  would  be  useless,  he  set 
sail  for  England  wliere  he  arrived  in  the  autumn  of 
1851. 

Amono;  the  searchers  for  Fi'anklln  "was  the  veteran 
Sir  John  Ross,  who  sailed  from  England,  April,  IH;")*), 
in  a  small  vessel  called  the  Feli.v,  accompanied  by  his 
(twn  yacht,  tlie  Mary,  as  a  tender. 

Sir  Jt)hn  overtook  Austin's  scpiadron  off  the  const 
of  (Ireenland  on  the  11th  of  August,  and  on  the  l.'Jth 
fell  in  with  some  Esquimaux  near  Cape  York,  who 
told  him,  that  in  the  Avinter  of  1846  two  shi]>s  were 
oia>l-ed  in  the  ice  a  little  further  up  the  coast,  and 
Lu(.lr  crew^s,  some  of  whom  wore  epaulets,  kilh^l  by 
the  natives.  A  subsequent  investigation  led  Austin 
to  ])elieve  that  the  whole  story  was  unti'ue ;  but  Ross, 
long  after  his  return  to  England,  adhered  to  his  theory 
that  the  lost  explorers  ])erishe(l  in  Baffin's  Bay  in  the 
manner  indicated  by  the  Esquimaux. 

Ross,  however,  continued  the  search  as  jtreviously 
arranged  with  Austin,  and  on  the  lUth  of  August 
when  off  Admirality  Inlet,  was  overtaken  by  tin;  Ad- 
vance, Lieut.  l)e  Haven,  at  just  about  the  s])ot  wlusn; 
Ross  had  been  j ticked  U])  by  the  Isabella  seventeen 
years  l)efore.  Ross  bore  a  ]^art  in  the  discoveries 
made  at  Cape  Rilt-y  and  vicinity,  and  subsequently 
wintered  in  the  ice  near  Austin's  ships. 

When  Ross  left  England  a  lady  gave  him  four  car- 
rier ])igeons,  two  of  which  he  was  to  liberate  at  a 
stated  time,  and  the  othei-  two  when  he  found  Frank- 
liii.  Ross  sent  off'  the  first  pair  on  the  0th  of  October 
in  a  basket  suspended  to  a  balloon,  during  a  noi'th- 
west  gale.  By  a  slow-match  arrangement  the  birds 
would    be  hberated  at  the  end  of  twenty-four  hours. 


^Vi 


w 


I: 


.1  li 


fit  lUm    if    [  \ 


i  f  i.'f 


m  :yi 


i*l,i(     -Truf 


:1  :  . 


;'l;  v-. 


•'.I 


'  iii 


'      Hi 


31J: 


SEAHCUES   FOR   F11A>'KLIX. 


On  the  13tli  of  October  a  pigeon  arrived  at  the  dove- 
cot of  the  lady,  which  she  believed  to  be  one  of  tliose 
given  to  Boss.  It  brought  no  message,  but  that  was 
believed  to  have  been  lost  during  the  long  transit. 

Another  of  the  expeditions  of  1850  was  fitted  out 
wholly  through  the  efforts  of  Lady  Franklin,  and 
mostly  at  her  exj^ense.  It  consisted  of  a  ship  and  a 
brig,  the  Lady  Fi-anklin  an'^  the  Sophia,  and  was 
placed  in  charge  of  Captain  Peuiiy,  who  had  had  much 
Arctic  experience  as  master  of  a  whaling  ship. 

Although  the  expedition  was  an  independent  one, 
Penny  co-operated  with  the  ^^thers,  and  after  partici- 
pating in  tlic  search  at  Cape  Riley  his  vessels  were 
frozen  up  for  the  winter  a  few  miles  easterly  of  x\us- 
tin's  squadron. 

In  the  spring,  Captain  Penny  undertook  the  search 
of  Wellington  Channel,  and  on  the  1 7th  of  April  six 
sledge  ]iarties  started  imder  his  general  supei'inteud- 
ence.  The  principal  discovery  Avas  a  wide  strait  to 
the  north  of  Cornwallis  Island,  which  was  named 
Victoria  Channel. 

Full  of  faith  that  Franklin  had  gone  up  this  chan- 
nel Penny  hastened  l)ack  to  the  ships  for  a  boat,  which 
he  mounted  on  sledges,  and  after  incredible  fatigues 
and  tantalizing  delays,  he  launched  on  the  channel 
and  examined  three  hundred  and  ten  miles  of  the 
coast,  when,  his  provisions  failing,  he  was  compelled 
reluctantly  to  retrace  his  course.  His  ])ei'severance 
on  this  expedition  entitles  him  to  an  honorable  name 
among  Arctic  explorers. 

On  the  12th  of  August,  1851,  the  Lady  Franklin 
and  Sophia,  again  free  from  the  ice-grip,  were  started 
homeward,  and  arrived  stifely  in  England  about  the 
middle  of  September. 


\:-im 


TUE   I'liUX'E   ALJ3EUT. 


315 


Supplementary  to  Captain  Penny's  expedition  was 
that  of  the  schooner  Prince  Albert  under  Captain 
Forsyth.  Lady  Franklin  had  still  some  funds  left, 
and  thought  they  could  not  )>e  better  invested  than 
in  equipping  another  vessel  to  go  in  searjh  of  her 
lost  husband.  Making  use  of  all  her  avaihible  means 
she  defrayed  about  two-thirds  of  the  cost  of  this 
expedition,  and  her  friends  paid  the  balance.  Captain 
Forsyth  A\as  aldy  assisted  by  Commander  AV.  P. 
Snow,  and  both  were  volunteers,  who  desired  no  fur- 
ther compensation  than  the  satisfaction  of  I'endering 
aid  to  a  noble  man  and  an  equally  noble  lady.  They 
were  instructed  to  examine  the  shores  of  Prince  lie- 
gent's  Inlet,  which  at  the  time  Franklin  sailed  was 
sui)posed  i  )  communicate  with  the  Polar  Sea  through 
Dease's  Strait.   ■ 

Captain  Forsyth  sailed  from  Aberdeen  on  the  5th 
of  June,  and  on  the  21st  of  August  arrived  off  Port 
Leopold.  Here  he  landed,  and  found  that  tlie  honse 
constructed  by  Sir  John  Poss  was  in  c'ood  condition 
to  furnish  a  retreat  for  Aj'ctic  adventures,  and  the 
stores  were  abundant  and  in  good  order. 

Losing  no  time  here,  the  Prince  Albert  Itoldly  en- 
tered Prince  Regent's  Lilet  When  they  were  sailing 
jiast  Batty  Bay  the  crew  were  greatly  excited  by  hear- 
ing what  they  supposed  was  the  tiring  of  a  gun  on 
shore.  The  officers  directed  their  glasses  to  the  land, 
but  nothing  human  was  to  be  seen.  The  howitzer 
was  tired,  but  there  was  no  response,  and  reluctantly 
they  concluded  that  the  noise  they  had  heard  was 
occasioned  by  ilie  falling  of  a  rock  or  masses  oi'  ice. 
When  oft'  Fui}  Beach,  the  scliooner's  progi'ess  was 
stopped  by  a  dense  fog,  .'U id  when  .his  cleared  the 
vessel  was  found  in  a  bighi  of  ice  within  a  few  yards 


i: .  ^ 


.*».,  - 


-;• 


W  "W  Ik 


^K'.nM 


■"I  "ll 


i^i  ■!! 


ii: 


316 


SEAKCIIES    FOK    FUANKLIN. 


of  a  liummocky  field,  in  which  not  one  crack  of  open 
water  could  be  seen  from  the  crow's-nest.  Forsyth 
and  Snow  concludetl  that  their  mission  to  Boothia 
was  effectually  thwarted  for  that  season,  and  turnint^ 
the  bow  of  the  Prince  Albert  northward,  proceeded 
to  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Iviley,  Avhere  they  fell  in  with 
several  vessels  of  the  English  and  American  expe- 
ditions. Learning  of  the  discoveries  which  had  ])een 
made  there  but  a  day  or  two  previously,  they  joined 
in  the  search,  and  then,  with  some  of  the  relics  of 
Franklin's  i)aj-t\',  started  homeward  where  they  arrived 
on  the  1st  of  October. 

One  other  vessel  which  was  in  Barrow's  Straits  in 
1850  should  here  be  mentioned.  The  North  Star 
left  England  in  1849,  with  stores  for  the  ex})editi()n 
of  .>anies  C.  Ross,  but  she  was  beset  by  ice  in  Mel- 
ville Bay  and  drifted  up  the  coast  of  Greenland,  where 
Khe  wintered  in  lat.  76*^  ;?.'>'.  Four  of  her  crew  died 
before  she  escaped  fi'om  the  ice.  She  arrived  at  Port 
Leopold,  Aul;'.  18th,  but  iiiiding  the  harbor  full  of 
ice,  procei  ^d  to  Navy  Board  Inlet  ih-ar  Wollaston 
Laud,  where  she  put  on  the  mainland  her  sur]»his 
stores  and  f.  el.  Then  scud  dins'  befoi'e  a  mile,  slie 
sailed  through  Lancaster  Sound,  and  arrived  iu  Scot- 
laud  on  the  28th  of  September,  1850. 


^?^ 


CIIAPTEK  XXV. 


•  I  (' 


SEAKCIIES  FOR  SIR  JOHN  FR  \NKLIN. 


(discovery  of  a  north- west  passage.) 

The  Bering^s  Strait  EAppditlon  referred  to  in  the 
last  c'lia})ter,  consisted  of  two  sliips,  th*^  Enterj)rise,  Cap- 
tain Ricliard  Collinson,  and  tlie  Investi^'ator,  Command- 
er Robert  McClure.  These  l)rave  men  sailed  on  tlieir 
benevolent  and  hazardons  mission,  January  2<)th,  1850, 
and  made  a  safe  and  speedy  passage  to  Bering's  Strait. 
On  the  28th  of  August  Collinson  had  reached  a  posi- 
tion north  of  Point  Barrow,  but  being  unable  to  pene- 
trate further  <m  account  of  the  ice,  he  sailed  for  (Irantley 
Harbor,  where  the  Plover  was  pi-eparing  her  Avinter- 
quarters.  Here,  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to 
get  the  Enterprise  over  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the 
harbor;  and  after  consulting  with  (\'i])tains  Kellett 
and  Moore,  of  tiie  Ilei-ald  and  Plover,  Ca])tain  Collin- 
son sailed  for  ITong  Kong,  proj)osing  to  renew  the 
attempt  to  get  north  in  the  spring. 

Meantime  the  Investigator,  having  outsaili'd  the 
Enterprise,  fell  in  with  the  Herald,  July  .'51  st,  off 
Point  IIo])e,  and  was  seen  by  the  Plover,  August  5th, 
1850,  in  hit.  70°  44',  bearing  gallantly  to  the  north 
under  a  press  of  sail.  Nothing  furtluM*  was  heard 
of  McClure  in  England  until  the  Autumn  of  1853, 

317 


■It.  "H-:' 


'  I 


fi 


pmTi 


..t! 


Wl 


318 


SEAliCIIES    rOU    FUANKLIN'. 


!  ■■r.i'\ 


Vi 


-vfm 


iHiiM 


\\:< 


i,  l 


wlien  Lieut.  Cresswel],  of  tlie  Investigator,  anivecl 
there  with  iiifonnatiou  tliut  McClure  and  his  crew 
liad  reached  Beecliey  Island,  liaving  discovered  the 
long  sought  for  North-west  i)assage. 

After  passing  Point  Bari'ow,  some  men  Avere  sent 
ashore  to  erect  a  cairn  and  l)ury  a  notice  that  the 
Investigator  luid  passed.  Tlit^y  were  uiet  hy  three 
natives  who  gave  the  usual  distant  sign  of  friendship 
by  raising  their  arms  three  times  over  their  heads, 
and  when  in  close  proximity  the  less  agreeable  one  of 
rub1)ing  noses.  They  had  seen  the  masts  of  the 
Investigator  the  jirevious  evening  and  Av^oiidered  at 
the  sight,  thinking  them  to  be  trees  in  motion.  They 
were  very  friendly  but  could  give  no  information  of 
Franklin,  and  McClure  concluded  that  none  of  his 
crew  had  ever  been  in  that  vicinity.  "  The  natives," 
says  McClure,  "  are  a  kind  and  nieriy  I'ace,  and  when 
we  gave  them  presents,  we  told  them  that  we  were 
looking  foi  our  lost  brothers,  and  if  they  saAV  any 
white  men  in  distress,  they  Avere  to  be  veiy  kind;  to 
which  they  assented  by  saying  that  tliey  would,  and 
would  give  them  plenty  of  deer's  flesh." 

On  the  10th  of  August,  Colville  Iliver  was  passed, 
and  the  color  of  its  Avaters  Avas  discernible  at  a  dis- 
tance of  ten  miles  from  the  shore.  The  Es<|uiniaux 
were  numerous  about  the  mouth  of  this  river  and 
apparently  had  never  seen  Avhite  men  befoi-e,  as  they 
manifested  great  curiosity  and  had  no  articles  of 
European  manufacture.  They  Avere  eager  for  traffic, 
sharp  at  a  l)ai'gain,  and  not  sIoav  in  thieving.  Seeing 
some  of  the  sailors  cutting  tobacco  in  pieces  to  give 
in  exchange  for  salmon  trout,  they  began  to  cut  the 
fish  also  into  pieces,  and  Avhile  McClure  Avas  placing 
a  j^resent  in  the  right  hand  of  the  chiet^  he  felt  the 


iil^ 


■?■   ! 


CllUISE    OF    THE    INVESTIGATOU. 


ai9 


fellow's  left  liaiul  picking  his  pocket.  Tlie  chief 
laughed  heartily  Avheii  iletected,  and  seemed  to  think 
it  no  ci'hne. 

On  the  21st  of  Aug.,  the  Investigator  passed  the 
mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  lliver,  and  soon  afterwai'd 
reached  Warren  Point.  As  some  natives  were  here 
seen  on  shore,  a  boat  put  off  with  dispatches  which 
McClure  wished  to  have  forwarded  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  posts  on  thi-*  river.  Instead  of  making 
tlie  usual  friendly  sign  the  natives  wa,ved  oil*  the 
boats  with  the  most  menacing  gestures,  and  were 
only  pacified  when  the  interpi'eter,  in  full  native 
costume,  exjdained  the  object  of  the  Investigator.  It 
was  found  that  these  Escpiiniaux  li;ul  no  intercourse 
with  those  on  the  Mackenzie,  being  at  war  with  them. 
A  bi'ass  button  suspended  from  the  ear  of  one  of  the 
chiefs,  excited  much  curiosity,  and  he  told  this  story 
of  its  histoi'v :  It  had  belouiji-ed  to  a  white  man  who 
had  been  killed  by  a  native.  The  stranger  ^was  one 
of  a  party  which  had  landed  at  Point  Wai'ren  and 
there  built  a  house,  and  then  <j;one  inland.  The  man 
killed  had  strayed  from  his  companions,  and  the  chief 
and  his  son  had  buried  him  upon  a  hill  at  a  little 
distance.  McClure  investiij-ated  this  matter  thoroughly, 
but  could  not  ascertain  when  the  mur<ler  was  com- 
mitted, nor  find  the  grave.  He  found,  however,  the 
renuiants  of  two  huts,  which  appeared  to  have  been 
built  long  before  Franklin's  expedition  set  out. 

All  along  this  coast  the  natives  were  at  first  hostile, 
but  invarial)ly  became  friendl;y  after  a  little  maneu- 
vering on  the  part  of  the  interpreter,  avIio  generally 
succeeded  in  so  ingratiating  himself  that  the  white 
men  Avere  treated  kindly  and  often  invited  to  jiartake 
of  native  hospitality.   Arctic  delicacies,  such  as  salmon, 


I'll 


:•'  A 


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iff    1" 


320 


SEAIICIIES    roil    FKANKLIN. 


venison  and  Lliil)l)(»i',  were  lil)emlly  hestowod  upon 
tlie  olHcers  and  crew.  The  iiiteri)i"eter  so  "won  over 
one  old  cliief,  tliat  he  was  invited  to  remain  with  the 
tri])e  forever;  as  an  inducement  for  liim  to  do  so,  the 
cldef's  daugliter,  a  pretty  damsel  of  fifteen  years, 
Avas  i)r()pouii(led  as  a  wife,  with  a  dowry  of  a  tent 
and  a  complete  fitting  out  in  the  highest  Esquimaux 
style. 

On  the  (Uli  of  Septemher,  high  land  was  discovered 
to  the  north-east.  Hitherto  ihv  Investigator  had  been 
sailing  along  a  shore  which  had  been  traversed  by 
Franklin,  J5ack,  Simpson,  and  others,  on  foot  and  in 
boats ;  but  the  land  which  now  aj)peai'ed  on  the  left 
was  terra  incognita.  INlcClure  therc^fore  hove  anchor, 
and  on  landing  took  formal  ])ossession  in  the  name  of 
Queen  Victoria,  calling  it  "Baring's Island."  It  was 
afterwards  discovei'cd  that  they  did  not  land  on  an 
island,  but  on  the  southern  shore  of  Bank's  Land. 
The  name  of  the  coast  was  accordingly  changed  to 
Baring's  Land. 

INlcClure  now  sailed  along  the  easterly  coast  of 
Bank's  Land,  up  Prince  of  Wales  Strait,  and  on  the 
17th  of  September  was  within  thii-ty  miles  of  Melville 
Sound,  whose  waters  connect  with  Barrow's  Sti'ait 
and  Lancaster  Sound.  Here  in  latitude  73^  10'  and 
longitude  117'''  10'  the  ice  in  which  the  ship  was  be- 
set ceased  to  drift  to  the  north,  new  ice  began  to 
form,  and  everything  indicated  that  the  Investigator 
"was  fixed  for  the  winter.  Soon  afterward,  however, 
the  shi})  was  carried  by  a  tunuJtuous  drift  of  the  ice 
thirty  miles  to  the  south,  and  on  the  28th,  was  again 
swept  noi'thward  in  close  proximity  to  the  cliffs  of 
Princess  Koyal  Island.  These  cliffs  rise  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  sea  to  a  height  of  four  hundred  feet, 


yV^i.i 


DISCOVKUY    OF   TIIK    NOUTII-VVEST    I'ASSAdE 


r.-ji 


and  as  the  ship  di-iftwl  towards  tlieni  one  old  sailor 
rt'iiuirked  to  a  comrade : — "Tlie  ohl  craft  will  doiiblo 
U[)  like  an  old  basket  when  she  gets  alongside  of  them 
rocks." 

But  a  kind  Providence  saved  the  vessel,  and  she 
was  swej)t  j)ast  the  island  witliout  striking  the  clitt's, 
and  on  the  .'50th  of  September  Lrou^dlt  up  n(!ar  the 
advanced  jjosition  which  she  had  reache-^  on  the  17th; 
and  here  the  crew  of  the  Investigatoi'  i)assed  tlie 
winter  of  1850-51. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  1850,  IMcClure  witli  six 
men  and  a  sledge  started  in  the  direction  of  IMelville 
Sound.  On  the  24tli  a  cape  was  seen  in  the  distance 
towards  which  their  course  was  directed,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  25th  they  encam])ed  only  two  miles  from 
it. 

The  next  day  opened  with,  a  cloudless  sky,  and 
McClure  started  early,  ho])ing  to  obtain  siglit  of  a  sea 
which  would  connect  his  discoveries  with  those  of 
Parry.  At  an  altitude  of  six  hundi-ed  feet  above  the 
water-level,  he  impatiently  waited  for  light  enough  to 
discover  whether  the  lono;  souijht  North-west  i)assage 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  had  l)een  found. 

As  the  sun's  light  increased  the  outline  of  the  shores 
became  distinctly  visible.  Bank's  Land  terminated 
about  twelve  miles  away.  At  the  north  lay  the 
frozen  watei's  of  Melville  Sound,  and  the  eyes  of  the 
eager  beholders  embraced  a  distance  Avhich  i)recluded 
the  possibility  of  any  Luid  lying  in  that  direction 
between  them  and  Melville  Island.  McClure  was 
satisiicd  that  he  had  discovered  the  Noith-west  pas- 
sage ;  he  named  the  hill  from  which  he  gazed  Mount 
Obsei'vation,  and  ascertained  that  it  was  in  latitude 
73^  30',  and  longitude  114'^   39  ^     From  a  point  in 


..;' 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY    14580 

(716)  872-4S03 


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ill  ■' 


322 


SEARCHES    FOR    FRANKLIN. 


Melville  Sound  to  be  seen  from  Mount  Observation, 
Parry  had  sailed  eastward  into  Baffin's  Bay  and  thence 
home ;  and  McClure  had  sailed  easterly  from  Bei'ing's 
Sti'ait  almost  to  Parry's  starting  point  and  into  watei's 
connecting  therewith.  The  great  problem  for  the 
solution  of  which  so  many  Arctic  explorers  had  risked 
their  lives  was  now  solved. 

A  large  cairn  was  erected,  a  record  of  the  discovery 
placed  therein,  and  then  came  the  fatiguing  return 
joui'ney  to  the  Investigator,  during  which  McClure 
came  near  perishing.  When  within  a  few  miles  of 
the  Investigator  he  pushed  on  ahead  of  his  party  who 
were  slowly  drawing  the  sledge,  that  he  might  tell 
his  comrades  the  glorious  news;  but  night  overtook 
him  ere  he  reached  the  vessel,  and  with  it  came  a 
dense  mist  which  obscured  everytliing.  He  pushed 
on,  guiding  his  couise  by  the  direction  of  the  wind, 
until  repeated  falls  over  the  rough  ice  admonished 
him  of  the  danger  of  broken  bones. 

"  I  now  climbed,"  says  McClure,  "  on  a  mass  of 
squeezed-up  ice  in  the  hope  of  seeing  my  l)arty,  siiould 
they  pass  near,  or  of  attracting  the  attention  of  some 
one  on  board  the  vessel  by  firing  my  fowling-piece. 
Unfortunately  I  had  no  other  amnumition  than  what 
it  was  loaded  with.  After  waiting  for  an  liour 
patiently,  I  was  rejoiced  to  see  through  the  mist  tlie 
glare  of  a  blue  light,  evidently  burnt  in  the  direction 
in  which  I  had  left  the  sleduje.  I  immediatelv  fiivd 
to  denote  my  position,  but  my  fire  was  unobserved, 
and  both  barrels  being  discharged  I  was  unable  to 
repeat  the  signal.  My  only  hope  now  rested  on  tlie 
ship's  answering,  but  nothing  was  to  be  seen,  and 
there  seemed  no  probability  of  my  having  any  other 
shelter  for  the  night  that  what  the  floe  afforded. 


J- 


mcclure's  Nioirr  adventure. 


323 


"  It  was  now  half-past  eight.  There  were  eleven 
Lours  of  night  before  me,  a  temperature  15*  below 
zero,  bears  prowling  about,  and  I  with  an  unloaded 
gun  in  my  hands.  The  sledge  party  might,  liowever, 
reach  the  ship,  and,  finding  I  had  not  arrived,  search 
would  be  made  and  help  be  sent ;  so  I  walked  to  and 
fro  upon  my  hummock  until,  I  suppose,  it  must  have 
been  eleven  o'clock,  when  that  hope  fled  likewise. 
Descending  from  the  top  of  the  slab  of  ice  upon  wliich 
I  had  clambered,  I  found  under  its  lee  a  famous  bed 
of  soft,  dry  snow,  and  thoroughly  tired  out,  I  threw 
myself  upon  it  and  slept  for  perhaps  three  hours, 
when  upon  opening  my  eyes,  I  fancied  I  saw  the  flash 
of  a  rocket.  Jumping  upon  my  feet  I  found  that  the 
mist  had  cleared  off,  find  that  the  stars  and  aurora 
borealis  were  shining  in  all  the  splendor  of  an  Arctic 
night.  Although  unable  to  see  the  islands  or  the 
ship,  I  wandered  about  the  ice  in  different  directions 
until  daylight,  when,  to  my  great  mortification,  I 
found  I  had  passed  the  ship  fully  the  distance  of  four 
miles." 

MeClure  finally  reached  the  Investigator  before  the 
arrival  of  the  sledge-party,  and  great  was  the  rejoicing 
on  board  at  the  news  of  the  discoveiy  of  the  North- 
west passage. 

During  the  winter  and  sjiring,  sledge-parties  were 
sent  out  in  various  directions,  but  no  ti'aces  of  Frank- 
lin were  found  and  no  important  geographical  discov- 
eries made.  Reindeer,  musk-ox  and  other  animals 
were  occasionally  met  with  all  through  the  long  Arc- 
tic night,  and  McClure  concluded  that  it  was  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  these  inhabitants  of  the  Arctic  Archf- 
pelago  migrated  south  to  avoid  the  extreme  cold  of 
the  winters. 


^1 


824 


6EAKC1IE8    FOR    FUANKHN. 


In  July,  1851,  the  ice-floe  in  which  the  ship  had 
rested  began  to  break  up,  and  on  the  I7th  the  shij) 
was  once  more  free.  But  she  enjoyed  her  liberty  for 
only  a  short  time,  being  soon  captured  by  the  pack- 
ice  and  again  carried  back  and  forth  through  Prince 
of  Wales  Strait  as  on  the  previous  year.  The  situa- 
tion was  aggravating  in  the  extreme.  At  times  only 
twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  separated  McClure  and  his 
crew  from  an  open  sea,  through  which,  if  they  could 
only  reach  it,  they  might  sail  to  Baffin's  liay  and 
England  the  same  summer.  The  alternative  was  to 
pass  another  gloomy  and  hazardous  winter  amid  the 
ice. 

But  all  attempts  to  get  the  ship  further  to  the 
north-east  than  it  was  drifted  by  the  ice  proved 
unsuccessful ;  and  it  turned  out  that  the  North-west 
passage  was  not  much  of  a  passage  after  all,  so  far  as 
the  Investigator  was  concerned.  The  great  trouble 
was,  that  an  ice-bridge  several  miles  in  length 
obstructed  the  way. 

McClure  now  decided  to  retrace  his  steps  if  possible 
to  the  southerly  point  of  Banks'  Land  and  to  sail  up 
its  western  coast.  In  this  attempt  he  was  so  success- 
ful, that  on  the  10th  of  August  he  had  passed  Point 
Kellett,  and  was  rapidly  progressing  northward 
through  a  lane  of  open  water  nearly  five  miles  wide. 
Soon  after  this  the  lead  became  very  narrow  and 
much  obstructed  by  floating  ice,  while  the  pack,  be- 
tween which  and  a  precipitous  coast  they  were  sail- 
ing, was  of  fearful  thickness — extending  fifty  feet 
below  the  water,  which  was  very  deep,  and  rising  in 
places  into  hills  a  hundred  feet  high.  The  situation 
was  full  of  peril,  for  had  the  ice  set  towards  the 
abrupt  cliffs  along  which  they  were  sailing,  nothing 
could  have  saved  the  ship. 


LIFE   AT   MERCY    BAY. 


325 


On  the  20th  of  August,  the  Investigator  was  fast 
lietween  the  ice  and  the  beacli  at  the  north-west  cor- 
ner of  Banks'  Land,  and  remained  so  till  the  29th, 
wlien  the  immense  floe  to  which  she  had  been  fastened 
AMIS  raised  edgeways  out  of  the  water  by  the  cro\\ding 
of  the  surrounding  ice,  and  lifted  perpendicularly 
some  thirty  feet  close  to  the  ship's  bows.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  ship  must  capsize,  and  had  the  ice  tojipled 
over,  as  appeared  likely,  it  would  have  sunk  her. 
But  the  floe,  after  frightful  oscillations,  righted  itself 
and  drifted  onward.  At  another  time  the  wreck  of 
the  Investigator  seemed  certain,  and  all  that  McClure 
could  hope  for  was  "  that  the  ship  might  be  thrown 
up  sufficiently  to  serve  as  an  asylum  for  the  wintei'." 

At  length  on  the  24th  of  SeptemV)er,  the  explorers 
drifted  into  a  large  bay  on  the  northern  shores  of 
Banks'  Land,  where  they  found  a  secure  harbor,  and 
here  they  passed  the  winter.  In  gratitude  for  past 
deliverances  McClure  called  the  place  Mercy  Bay. 
Game  was  abundant,  and  hunting  parties  rambled 
over  the  hills  almost  daily  throughout  the  winter, 
excei)ting  when  prevented  })y  occasional  snow-storms, 
or  when  it  was  too  dark  for  shooting.  Some  of  the 
hills  were  three  hundred  feet  high  with  wild  and 
picturesque  gorges  between  them.  On  their  sides 
abundance  of  wood  was  found,  and  in  many  j)laces 
layers  of  trees  were  visilde,  some  protruding  a  dozen 
feet.  One  of  the  largest  of  these  tnmks  measured 
nineteen  inches  in  diameter. 

The  hunters  met  with  various  adventures,  and  one 
poor  negro  followed  a  wounded  deer  so  far  that  he 
became  bewildered  and  could  not  retrace  his  steps. 
He  was  so  frightened  out  of  his  senses,  that  when 
found  he  stood  crying,  fancying  himself  frozen  to 


in 


III 


ilii 


I 


I 


826 


8EAUCIIE8   FOU   FRANKLIN. 


death,  and  could  not  be  induced  to  make  any  exer- 
tion to  return.  In  spite  of  his  prayer  to  be  let  alone 
to  die,  his  comrade  carried  and  rolled  him  down  the 
hills  to  the  ship,  where  he  soon  recovered  his  strength 
and  senses. 

In  April,  1852,  a  sledge  jouraey  was  made  across 
Banks'  Strait  to  Winter  Harbor  on  Melville  Island, 
where  Parry  had  wintered.  Here  a  cairn  was  found 
containing  information  that  Lieut.  McClintock  of  the 
Intrepid  had  been  there  on  a  previous  summer.  In 
this  same  cairn  McClure  deposited  a  notice  of  his  own 
visit,  and  of  the  situation  of  the  Investigator  at 
Mercy  Bay.  This  information  subsequently  led  to 
the  rescue  of  himself  and  crew. 

During  the  summer  of  1852  the  scurvy  made  its 
appearance  among  the  crew.  On  the  1st  of  July  six 
of  the  men  were  confined  by  it  to  their  beds,  and 
numbers  more  began  to  feel  its  symptoms.  To  add 
to  their  troubles  the  summer  proved  a  very  cold  one, 
and  before  the  close  of  July  it  became  pretty  manifest 
that  the  Investigator  must  spend  another  long  winter's 
night  in  her  present  moorings.  The  grip  of  the  ice 
was  worse  than  the  grip  of  the  Tartar.  During  July 
and  August  the  crew  were  daily  employed  in  gather- 
ing sorrel  which  grew  in  the  vicinity ;  eaten  as  a  salad 
or  boiled,  it  was  found  to  be  a  most  valuable  anti-scor- 
butic, and  proved  an  efficient  medicine  for  the  scurN-y 
patients.  Sledging  parties  w^ere  also  sent  out  in  hopes 
to  accomplish  the  great  mission  of  the  Investigator — 
the  finding  of  Franklin  ;  but  not  a  trace  of  his  party 
was  discovered. 

"  Although,"  says  McClure,  "  we  had  already  been 
twelve  months  upon  tAvo-thirds  allowance,  it  was 
necessary  to  make  preparations  for  meeting  eighteen 

,    4 


RELIEF  AT   HAND. 


327 


months  more ;  a  very  severe  depnvation  and  constitu- 
tional test,  l)ut  one  which  the  sen'ice  we  were  eini)loy- 
ed  upon  called  for,  the  vessel  l>eing  as  sound  as  the 
day  she  entered  the  ice;  it  would,  therefore,  he  dis- 
creditahle  to  desert  her  in  185.*^,  when  a  favorable 
season  would  run  her  through  the  straits  and  admit  of 
reaching  England  in  safety,  where  the  successful 
achievement  of  th(?  long-sought-for  and  almost  hope- 
less discovery  of  the  Noith-west  passage  Moidd  be 
received  with  a  satisfaction  that  wouhl  amj)ly  com- 
])ensate  for  the  sacrifices  made  and  hardships  endured 
in  its  most  trying  and  tedious  accomplishment." 

In  November  the  ship  was  housed  over,  and  banked 
up  Avith  ice  and  snow,  and  preparations  completed 
for  spending  a  second  winter  at  Mercy  liay.  The 
crew  kept  up  their  spirits;  hunting  was  again  the 
order  of  the  day  ;  and  deer,  hares,  and  ptarmigan  were 
})lenty.  Christmas  was  celebrated  with  great  eclat^ 
and  all  vied  to  make  it  a  cheerful  and  happy  one. 
Each  mess  was  gayly  illuminated,  and  decorated  with 
original  paintings  by  the  lower-deck  artist,  exhibiting 
the  ship  in  her  perilous  positions  during  the  transit 
of  the  Polar  Sea,  and  divers  other  subjects.  Dainties 
in  great  ])rofusion  graced  the  lower  deck,  and  a  stran- 
ger witnessing  the  scene  would  hardly  su])pose  that 
he  saw  a  crew  which  had  passed  over  two  years  in 
those  dreaiy  regions,  depending  entirely  on  their  own 
resources. 

So  passed  away  the  winter  of  1852-3;  and  when 

spring  came  the  men  were  all  making  preparations 

for  carrying  out  a  i)lan  which  McClure  had  previously 

decided  on.     One-half  of  the  crew  and  some  of  the 

officers  were  to  remain  with  the  ship  and  endeavor  to 

liberate  it  during  the  summer.    The  rest  of  the  men 

20 


m ; 


llll> 


328 


SKAKCIIES    FOR    FRANKLIN. 


were  to  start  for  England — a  part  by  way  o^  Macken- 
zie River  and  Canada,  and  a  part  Wy  way  of  Baffin's 
Bay.  All  were  sad  at  the  prospect  of  separation,  for 
the  sojourn  and  the  journeys  were  alike  full  of  gloom, 
and  the  death,  April  5th,  of  a  comrade  who  had  pois- 
oned himself,  add.^d  to  the  general  depression  of  spirits. 
But  une.\'j)efted  relief  was  at  hand,  and  its  arrival  can 
be  best  described  in  ]\IcClure'8  own  words: — 

"  While  walking  near  the  ship,  in  conversation  witli 
the  first  lieutenant  upon  the  subject  of  digging  a  grave 
for  the  man  who  died  yesterday,  and  disci.:  ing  how 
we  could  cut  a  ijrave  in  the  ground  whilst  it  was  ^•,) 
hardly  frozen,  we  pei'ceived  a  figure  walking  ra[)i(lly 
towards  us  from  the  rough  ice  at  the  entrance  of  the 
bay.  From  his  pace  and  gestures  we  botli  naturally 
supposed,  at  first,  that  he  was  some  one  of  our  jiarty 
pursued  by  a  bear ;  l)ut,  as  we  aj^proached  him,  doubts 
arose  as  to  who  it  could  be.  lie  was  certainly  unlike 
any  of  our  men  ;  but,  recollecting  that  it  was  possil)lo 
some  one  might  be  trying  a  new  traveling-dress  pre- 
])aratory  to  the  departure  of  our  sledges,  and  certaiij 
that  no  one  else  was  near,  we  continued  to  advance. 

"When  within  about  two  hundred  j'ards  of  us,  the 
strange  figure  threw  up  his  arms,  and  made  gesticula- 
tions resembling  those  used  by  Esquimaux,  besides 
shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice  words  which,  from 
the  wind  and  intense  excitement  of  the  moment, 
sounded  like  a  wild  screecli :  and  this  broujjht  us  ])()tli 
fairly  to  a  stand-still.  The  stranger  came  quietly  on. 
and  we  saw  that  his  face  wasasblack(from  lamp-smoke) 
as  ebony ;  and  really,  at  the  moment,  we  might  he 
pardoned  for  wondering  whether  he  was  a  denizen 
of  this  or  t)]e  other  world  ;  as  it  was,  we  gallantly 
stood  our  ground,  and,  had  the  skies  fallen  upon  us, 


THE   INVESTIGATOR   DESERTED. 


329 


we  could  hardly  have  been  more  astonif^hod  than 
when  the  dark-faced  stranger  called  out,  '  I'm  Tiicn- 
tenant  Pirn,  lute  of  the  Herald,  and  now  in  the  Ucso- 
lute.     Captain  Kellett  is  in  her,  at  Dealy  Island.' 

"To  rush  at  and  seize  him  by  the  hand  was  the 
fii-st  inijmlse,  for  the  heart  was  too  full  for  the  tongue 
to  speak.  The  announcement  of  relief  being  close  at 
hand,  when  none  was  supposed  to  be  even  within  the 
Arctic  Circle,  was  too  sudden,  unexpected,  and  joyous, 
for  our  minds  to  conij)rehend  it  at  once.  The  news 
flew  with  ligiitning  rni)idity  ;  the  shi[)  was  all  in  com- 
motion ;  the  sick,  forgetful  of  their  maladies,  h'aped 
from  their  hammt)cks;  the  artificers  dropped  their 
tools,  and  the  lower  deck  Avas  cleared  of  nu-n  ;  for 
they  all  rushed  for  the  hatchway,  to  be  assured  that 
a  stranger  w  as  actually  among  them,  and  th.it  his  tale 
was  true.  Despondency  fled  the  shij>,  and  Lieut.  Pirn 
received  a  wehHMne — pure,  hearty,  and  giateful — that 
he  will  surely  remember  and  cherish  to  the  end  of  his 

Lieut.  Pim's  companions  on  this  journey  soon 
arrived  at  the  ship,  with  the  Fit/.james,  a  small 
sledge  drawn  \)y  dogs.  On  the  8th  of  April  they  set 
out  to  return  to  the  Kesolute,  accompanied  hy  McClure 
and  some  of  his  men,  and  reached  their  shi]>  on  the 
ll»th.  On  the  2d  of  May,  an  ollicer  arrived  from  tlie 
Investigator  with  news  of  the  death  of  two  more  of 
her  crew.  McClui'e,  with  the  surgeon  of  the  Resolute, 
then  returned  to  his  ship,  intending  to  send  home  all 
the  crew^  who  were  unfitted  f(»r  service,  and  to  allov.' 
such  others  as  wished  to  accomi)any  them  to  do  so. 
AVith  the  balance  he  hoped  to  sav(i  his  vessel;  but 
on  consultins:  the  crew  only  four  were  willing  to 
remain,  although  all  the  officers  volunteered  to  stand 


)lll 


i'  'I' 


III!  1 1 


1 


|i' 


830 


SEARCHES   FOR    FKAXKLiy. 


by  tlieir  ship.  After  landing  boats  and  stores  for  tlio 
use  of  CoDinson,  Franklin,  or  any  other  exph)rer,  t\w 
colors  were  hoisted  to  the  main-mast  on  the  3d  of 
June,  1853,  and  the  officers  and  crew,  in  all  sixty 
men,  bade  farewell  to  the  gallant  Investigator  and 
started  for  Dealy  Island. 

After  sharing  the  fortunes  of  Captain  Kellett's 
ships,  the  Kosolute  and  Intrepid,  until  April,  1854, 
Cai)t;:in  McClure  and  his  men  started  with  sledges, 
for  Beechey  Island,  where  they  took  up  quarters  on 
the  North  Star.  When  that  ship,  later  in  the  season, 
sailed  for  England  with  the  crews  of  five  deserted 
vessels,  the  brave  discoverers  of  a  North-west  pas- 
sage were  among  the  number. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  the  reader,  that  Captain 
Collinson  of  the  Enterprise,  not  succeeding  in  enteiing 
the  Polar  Sea  in  the  fall  of  1850,  went  to  Hong  Kong 
to  winter.  In  1851  he  sailed  north,  doubled  Point 
Barrow,  and  following  the  track  of  the  Investigator 
through  the  Continental  Channel  and  up  Prince  of 
AVales  Strait,  penetrated  a  few  miles  further  north  than 
McCIure  had  gone.  But  as  no  passage  through  the 
ice  could  be  found,  he  sailed  southerly  and  passed  the 
winter  of  1851-2  at  Walker's  Bay,  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  entrance  of  Prince  of  Wales  Strait.  Search 
expeditions  were  sent  out,  and  portions  of  Banks' 
Land,  Albert  Land,  and  Victoria  Land  examined. 

During  the  next  summer,  Collinson  took  his  ship 
southerly  and  easterly  through  Dolphin  and  Union 
Strait  and  Dease  Strait,  and  passed  the  winter  of  1852 
-3  at  Cambridge  Bay,  on  the  southern  coast  of  Vic- 
toria Land.  From  this  point  sledge  parties  were  sent 
out  to  explore  the  western  shores  of  Victoria  Strait. 
Had  they  crossed  this  Strait  to  King  William's  Land^ 


KECKNT   DKAin    OF    MtCLUUE. 


331 


tbeir  search  for  traces  of!  the  lost  exj)lorers  would  have 
Ikh'II  more  successful. 

lieing  unable  to  force  a  passaj^o  throuj^h  the  ice  to 
till'  eastward  the  next  season,  Oollinsou  wtiiited  for 
Urriiig's  Strait,  but  the  Enterprise  was  cauglit  in  the 
ice  beibre  reaching  Pt)int  Harrow,  and  a  thiril  winter 
was  passed  on  the  noithern  coast  of  Anierica. 

The  exploits  of  McClure  were  duly  a]>preiiated  by 
his  countrymen.  lie  received  the  honors  of  kiiiuht- 
hood,  and  his  commission  as  Ca])tain  was  dated  back 
to  the  day  when,  from  a  hill  on  Banks'  L.uid,  lie 
gazed  on  a  continuous  ocean.  Gold  oi."';ils  were 
uwardiid  to  him  by  the  English  and  French  (reograjjhi- 
cal  Societies,  and  a  select  committee  of  tlu^  House  of 
Commons  resolved  that  the  officers  an<l  ci'ew  of  the 
Investigator  "performed  deeds  of  heroism  which, 
though  not  accompanied  by  the  excitement  and  tln^ 
glory  of  the  battle-field,  yet  rival  in  bravery  an«l 
devotion  to  duty,  the  highest  and  most  successful 
achievement  of  war."  A  reward  of  ,£*  10,000  was 
granted  to  them  as  a  token  of  national  approbation. 

The  recent  death  of  Sir  llobert  McClure,  which 
occurred  October  17th,  1873,  has  occasioned  an  ill- 
timed  controversy  as  to  wlio  is  entitled  to  the  honor 
of  Jirst  discovering  a  North-west  passage.  Lady 
Franklin,  in  a  letter  to  the  I'imes  i)ubHshed  "before 
McClure's  old  comrades  had  had  time  to  turn  from 
the  grave  of  the  great  ex})lorer,"  claims  the  honor 
for  the  last  survivors  of  her  husband's  ex})edition. 
The  questicm  is  not  a  new  one,  but  its  discussion  has 
been  generally  avoided  by  most  of  the  Arctic  writers, 
as  they  have  felt  that  Fnmklin  and  McClure,  if  living, 
would  have  no  dispute  about  so  small  a  matter. 


n 


!:l-,  "!r. 


If 


CHAPTER  XXVT. 
SEARCHES  FOR  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN. 

(hecond  cruise  ok  the  puince  albeut.) 

Tin:  return  of  the  Prince  Albert  in  the  fall  of  1850 
with  I'clies  of  Frunklin's  i)arty  gave  encouragenK-nt 
for  a  continuation  of  the  s«!arch  ;  and  on  uif  :U]  of 
June,  18r)1,  the  same  vessel  again  sailed  for  Prince 
Regent's  Inlet.  Captain  Win.  Kennedy,  formerly  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  C<)nij)any,  conunanded  the  schooner, 
and  was  assisted  by  Lieut.  J.  Bellct,  an  energetic  a!i<l 
lively  young  officer  of  the  French  navy,  whose  love 
of  adventure  led  hini  to  offer  his  services  to  Lady 
Fi'unklin. 

The  crew  were  all  picked  men,  and  includiul  Jolin 
Ilejdjurn,  Franklin's  faithful  attendant  on  his  Ih'st 
overland  journey,  and  other  Arctic  travelers.  Never 
was  a  vessel  manned  with  a  more  gallant  or  more 
resolute  comi)any.  Lady  Franklin  herself  was  pr(;sent 
to  cheer  and  encourage  the  adventurers,  as  with  the 
English  flag  at  the  j)eak,  and  the  French  flag,  as  a 
compliment  to  Bellot,  at  the  fore,  the  Prince  Albert 
went  forth  amid  the  prayers  and  best  wishes  of  all 
England. 

On  arriving  at  the  entrance  to  Prince  Regent's 
Inlet  that  channel  was  found  to  be  much  obstructed 

332 


A    NlOirr    AT   CAPR   HKI'l'lNOH. 


d:)3 


"by  W;  but  Kennedy  punhed  boldly  in,  and  pene- 
tmtt'd  Houtlu'i'ly  alons^  the  wentcrn  cojwt  as  fur  as 
Fury  Point.  lie  was  obliged,  however,  to  beat  a 
hasty  retreat,  to  eneapti  being  eruNhed  by  the  ice  which 
began  to  drift  toward  the  nhore,  and  took  refuge  ut 
port  How«Mi  on  the  eantern  coast. 

To  winter  at  this  jdace  while  all  their  searches 
wen-  t«»  l)e  made  on  the  west(M'n  shore,  was  an  id«^tt 
not  tobeeonsi(h'red  by  Kennedy  and  Hellot.  Accord- 
iiiirly  on  the  \H\\  of  Sei)tenibt'r  the  attempt  to  find  a 
harbor  on  the  west  side  was  renewed  ;  and  wlu-n  near 
Port  Leopohl,  Kennedy  with  four  men  sueceeib'd  in 
reacliing  the  shore,  and  on  ascending  the  elills  of 
('nj)e  Seppings,  discovered  that  Port  Leopold  \\nn 
free  from  ice  and  would  afford  a  good  winter  harbor 
for  th«!  Prince  Albert  if  it  could  \}v  reached. 

Descending  to  the  shore,  what  was  their  consterna- 
tion on  finding  that  the  narrow  lane  through  which 
they  had   rowed  their  gutta-jteicha  boat    was   com- 


l>l('tely  closed,  and  that  the  whole  pack  was  drifting 
down  the  inlet,  carrying  the  shij)  with  it.  Little 
could  be  seen  or  heard  but  the  tovsing,  roaring  au<l 
grinding  of  huge  masses  of  ice.  Night  was  coming 
on,  and  to  reach  the  ship  was  ini]>ossil>le.  Nothing 
could  be  (buie  but  to  make  thejusclves  as  comfortable 
for  the  niijht  as  frozen  clothes  and  cold  winds  would 
allow.  The  boat  was  hauled  up  on  shore,  and  under 
its  shelter,  but  Avitlioiit  blankets  or  coverings  of  any 
kind,  Kenned v  and  his  men  made  the  best  of  their 
situati(»n.  No  <)ne  was  permitted  to  slec])  but  an 
hour  at  a  time  for  fear  of  being  frozen. 

AVith  the  dawn  of  day  the  shivering  party  ascended 
the  highest  cliff  of  Cape  Seppings  and  strained  their 
eyes  in  search  of  the  Prince  Albert.     Not  a  sign  of 


334 


S£AUCU£S   FOB    FKANKLIN. 


B^S' 

H  ' 

the  vessel  was  to  be  seen  ;  and  here  they  were,  alone 
on  a  ]>leak  coast  at  the  cominencement  of  an  Arctic 
wintei',  without  shelter,  provisions  or  fuel,  and  scan- 
tily clad.  Fortunately,  Kennedy  was  aware  that  two 
years  before  Sir  James  lloss  had  made  a  depot  of  pro- 
visions at  Whaler  Point  on  the  other  side  of  the  har- 
bor. To  this  depot  the  little  company  directed  their 
way,  and  were  overjoyed  to  find  plenty  of  provisions 
and  the  canvas  hut  which  Ross  had  erected. 

"It  was  now,"  says  Kennedy,  "the  lOtli  of  Septem- 
ber. Winter  was  evidently  fast  setting  in,  and,  from 
the  distance  the  shi[)  had  been  carried  during  that  dis- 
astrous night  (whether  out  to  sea  or  down  the  inlet  we 
could  not  conjecture)  there  was  no  hope  of  our  being 
able  to  rejoin  her,  at  least  during  the  present  season. 
There  remained,  therefore,  no  altei'native  but  to  make 
up  our  minds  to  pass  the  winter,  if  necessary,  where 
we  were.  The  first  object  to  be  attended  to  ^vas  the 
erecting  of  some  sort  of  slielter  against  the  daily  in- 
creasing inclemency  of  the  weather;  and  for  this  pur- 
pose the  launch,  left  by  Sir  James  llo^s,  was  selected. 
Her  mainmast  Avas  laid  on  supports  at  the  bow  and 
stern,  about  nine  feet  in  height,  and  by  spreading  two 
of  her  sails  over  this  a  very  tolerable  roof  \vas  ob- 
tained. A  stove  was  set  np  in  the  body  of  the  boat, 
with  the  pipes  running  through  the  roof;  and  we 
were  soon  sitting  by  a  comfortable. fire,  which,  after 
our  long  exposure  to  the  wet  and  cold,  we  stood  very 
much  in  need  of." 

Ca})tain  Kennedy  was  not  the  man  to  sit  down  idle 
and  wait  for  something  to  turn  np.  He  immediately 
began  devising  plans  for  future  operations.  The  fii-st 
thing  was  to  search  ft)r  the  Prince  Albert,  and  the 
second  was  to  hunt  for  Franklin.     Before  either  pro- 


BELLOT8    RESCUE   PARTY. 


335 


ject  could  be  earned  out  it  was  necessary  to  provide 
some  additional  clothing  and  especially  shoes.  Ma- 
terial for  both  was  at  hand  in  the  slmi)e  of  canvas, 
and  the  party  passed  their  days — Sundays  excepted 
— in  making  it  up.  To  their  credit,  be  it  said,  that 
their  Sabbaths  were  observed  strictly  as  holy  time, 
and  He  who  had  so  wonderfully  preserved  them  in 
theii"  extremity  was  duly  honored. 

AVliile  thus  busily  employed  in  preparations  for 
their  exploi-ing  expeditions  they  were  smldenly  star- 
tled, on  the  17th  of  October,  by  the  firing  of  a  gun  in 
the  direction  of  Cape  Seppings.  Rushing  eagerly 
from  their  house  thev  discovered  seven  of  the  Prince 
All)ert's  men,  headed  by  Lieut.  Bellot,  who  had  come 
in  search  of  their  lost  comrades.  The  mutual  coni^rat- 
ulations  and  thanksij^ivinors  can  be  better  imai^ined 
than  described.  Bel  lot  reported  that  the  Prince  Al- 
bert was  securely  moored  in  Batty  Bay,  and  that  he 
and  his  men  had  come  up  on  the  ice,  dragging  a  boat 
with  them  for  use  if  needed,  Bellot  had  made  two 
previous  attempts  to  reach  Port  Leopold,  but  had  been 
baffled  once  by  deep  snows,  and  again  by  weakness  of 
the  ice,  through  which  the  sledge  broke  and  was  lost. 

Five  weeks  had  elaj)sed  since  Bellot  ha<l  taken 
French  leave  of  his  Captain,  and  unwillingly  drifted 
oft"  in  the  Prince  Albert.  They  weie  weeks  of  anx- 
ietv,  and  the  reaction  of  exuberant  feelin«T  was  o;reat. 
The  night  was  spent  under  the  covering  of  the  (dd 
launch  and  her  boards  reverberated  with  sea  songs 
and  hearty  laughs,  while  the  lost  and  found  drank  hot 
chocolate  and  feasted  on  Arctic  dainties. 

On  the  2 2d  of  Octo])er  the  whole  party  set  out  for 
Batty  Bay,  drawing  provisions  and  Bellot's  boat  on 
a  sledge  made  for  the  occasion.     A  mast  was  erected 


^'^M 


■r'S^M 


m 


ilrf 


M 


"■"11: 


;ml|| 


[iHiiM 


li'i 


ii  I 


fi'i':i 


336 


SEARCHES   FOR    FRANKLm. 


and  sails  set,  and  at  times,  when  the  ice  was  smooth 
and  the  wind  strong,  the  sledge,  hearing  all  the  trav- 
elers, sailed  off  with  great  rapidity.  Unfortunately, 
however,  it  broke  down  when  near  the  middle  of  the 
bay,  and  it  was  not  safe  to  spend  the  night  on  the 
treacherous  ice.  Darkness  overtook  them  before 
they  reached  laud,  and  driving  snow  made  progress 
both  ditticult  and  dangerous.  Cold  and  tired  they  at 
length  reached  a  flat  lime-rock,  where  they  spread  a 
tent,  kindled  a  fire,  boiled  some  tea  and  made  merry. 

The  tent  proved  too  small  to  lodge  thirteen  men 
with  any  comfort  to  themselves,  and  Bellot,  whose 
tact  and  good  humor  were  unbounded,  resolved  "to 
make  a  nis:ht  of  it."  Six  men  were  arranged  in  a 
sitting  posture  on  each  side  of  the  tent,  and  had  be- 
tween them  a  space  about  three  feet  wide  in  which  to 
accommodate  the  legs  of  the  twelve,  and  Bellot,  who 
chose  "a  middle  passage."  All  efforts  to  sleep  were 
unsuccessful  and  songs  and  merriment  prevailed.  For 
the  want  of  a  candle-stick,  each  man  was  to  hold  the 
candle,  for  fifteen  minutes,  and  then  pass  it  to  his 
neighbor.  The  candle  at  length  giving  out,  the  men 
tried  to  get  a  little  rest,  but  Bellot's  jokes  were  too 
good  to  allow  it.  lie  afterward  referred  to  the  niglit 
on  the  lime-stone  rock,  as  one  of  enjoyment  on  a  solid 
foundation.  Sleeping  in  a  tent  was  not  repeated,  but 
they  passed  several  comfortable  nights  in  snow  houses, 
and  on  arriving  at  the  ship  were  heartily  welcomed  by 
their  comrades. 

The  ensuing  winter  was  passed  in  the  ice  at  Batty 
Bay ;  ;.nd  though  the  night  was  long  and  dai'k,  the 
cold  winds  howled  around,  and  the  drifting  snow  at 
times  obstructed  all  out-door  exercise,  light,  warmth 
and  cheerfulness  prevailed  in  the  cabin  of  the  Prince 


A    VISIT   TO    WHY    BEACH. 


337 


Albert,  and  occasionally  a  mock-sun,  or  "sun-dog,"  dis- 
pelled the  gloom. 

On  the  5th  of  Januarj'  1852,  Kennedy,  Bellot,  and 
three  of  the  crew,  with  a  sledge  drawn  by  dogs,  start- 
ed on  an  excursion  to  the  south.  As  they  approached 
Fury  Beach  the  leaders  impatiently  jjushed  on  ahead 
of  the  sledge,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  8th,  stood 
upon  the  spot  where  they  had  hoped  to  find  some  of 
Franklin's  party.  "Every  object  distingnished  by 
the  moonlight  in  the  distance,"  says  Kennedy,  "be- 
came animated,  to  our  imaginations,  into  the  forms  of 
our  long-al)sent  countrymen ;  for,  had  they  been  im- 
prisoned anywhere  in  the  Aictic  seas,  within  a  rea- 
sonable distance  of  Fury  Beach,  here,  we  felt  assured, 
some  of  them,  at  least,  would  have  been  now.  But, 
alas  for  these  fond  hopes  !  All  was  solitary  and  des- 
olate." 

"  Somerset  House  "  was  still  in  existence ;  with  sad- 
dened feelings  Kennedy  and  Bellot  entered  its  cheer- 
less apartments,  and  kindled  a  fire  in  the  same  stove 
which  warmed  the  crew  of  Sir  John  Ro-is  in  the  di'eary 
winter  of  1832-3.  After  eating  their  snpper,  they 
took  a  few  hours  repose ;  then  started  liack  towards 
the  sledge  party,  and  all  returned   to  Batty  Bay. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  Kennedy  again  started 
south,  with  five  men  e(piipi)ed  with  snow-shoes,  sledges 
and  dogs,  and  was  overtaken  a  few  days  afterward 
at  Fury  Beach,  by  Bellot  with  seven  men.  After 
drawing  largely  on  the  old  stores  of  the  Fury,  Avhich 
were  abundant  and  good,  although  thirty  years  had 
elapsed  since  they  were  left  there,  the  whole  party 
started  southerly,  on  the  "  grand  Journey,"  as  Bellot 
called  it.     On  arriving  at  Brentford  Bay,  eight  of  the 


•:-i' 


mm, 


m 


338 


SEARCHES    FOR   FRANKLLN. 


men  were  sent  back,  and  six  men,  witli  sledges  drawn 
by  dogs,  continued  the  explorations. 

Near  this  bay  a  strait  running  westward  was  found, 
which  was  named  Bellot  Strait.  It  separated  North 
Somerset  from  Boothia  Felix,  and  communicated  with 
Victoria  Strait.  Kennedy  passed  through  it,  and  then 
crossed  Victoria  Strait  to  Prince  of  Wales  Land.  Af- 
ter continuing  westward  for  thirteen  days  and  reach- 
ing longitude  100®  west  without  coming  to  any  se.a, 
the  party  turned  their  course  northward,  and  at  last, 
on  the  4th  of  May,  ari'ived  at  Cape  AVulker  at  the 
northern  extremity  of  Prince  of  Wales  Land.  But 
here,  as  at  Fuiy  Beach,  they  were  much  disappointed 
at  finding  no  traces  of  Franklin's  Expedition. 

From  Cape  Walker  the  party  started  eastward,  the 
stock  of  provisions  running  very  low  and  some  of  the 
men  being  sick  with  the  scur^'y.  On  arriving  at  Ca})e 
McClintock,  they  were  rejoiced  to  find  a  depot  of  jm-o- 
visions  left  there  by  Ca])taln  Ross  in  1841).  Contin- 
uing on,  they  arrived  at  Whaler  Point  on  the  12th  and 
remained  there  till  the  27th,  recruiting  upon  the  stores 
and  anti-scorbutics  which  Avere  ihove  found.  On  the 
30th  of  May  they  reached  their  ship,  aftei-  an  absence 
of  ninety-seven  days,  during  which  time  they  had  trav- 
eled about  eleven  hundred  miles. 

The  Prince  Albert  remained  Imprisoned  In  the  Ice 
until  the  Gth  of  August,  and  on  being  liberated  sailed 
for  home,  arriving  In  England  on  the  7th  of  October, 
1852. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
SEARCHES  FOR  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN. 

(EXPEDmoNs  OF  1852.) 

Notwithstanding  the  ill-success  and  disappointments 
wliicli  had  thus  far  attended  the  searches  for  Frank- 
lin, the  whole  English  nation  was  stimulated  to  make 
one  more  great  effort  for  his  rescue ;  and  the  spring  of 
1852  witnessed  the  departure  from  England  of  the 
largest  expedition  which  had  ever  sailed  for  the  Po- 
lar seas.  It  was  commanded  by  Sir  Edward  Belcher, 
and  comprised  a  squadron  of  three  ships — the  Assist- 
ance— the  Resolute,  Captain  Kellett — the  Noi-th  Star, 
Captain  Pullen ;  and  two  steamers — the  Pioneer, 
Lieutenant  Osborne — and  the  Intrei)id,  Captain  Mc- 
Clintock.  These  five  vessels  left  England  on  the  28th 
of  April,  and  arrived  at  Beechey  Island  on  the  10th  of 
August. 

At  Beechey  Island  the  ships  separated.  Belcher 
and  Osborne,  with  the  Assistance  and  Pioneer,  pro- 
ceeded up  Wellington  Channel;  Kellett  a;id  McClin- 
tock,  with  the  Resolute  and  Intrepid,  sailed  westerly 
toward  Melville  Island ;  and  the  North  Star  remained 
at  Beechey  Island  as  a  depot-ship  and  retreat  for  any 
of  the  explorei's  who  might  need  assistance. 
Belcher's  two  ships  came  to  anchor  in  Northum- 

339 


Ml 


fi 


'Mm 


340 


SEAIICIIES    FOR    FRANKLIN. 


t 


bei'land  Sound  on  the  western  shores  of  Grinnell 
Land,  in  latitude  7G^^  52',  and  here  they  remained 
throu<^h  the  winter.  Exploring  i)arties  were  sent  <tut 
in  every  direction  during  the  autumn  and  ensuing 
summer,  who  discovered  and  surveyed  much  iww 
territory.  Hopes  of  being  on  Franklin's  track  were 
occasionally  raised  from  finding  structures  evidently 
erected  by  human  hands  but  differing  from  any- 
thing which  the  Esquimaux  were  supi^osed  to  be 
familiar  with.  Belcher  in  describing  one  of  his  joui- 
neys  says : — 

"  Our  progress  was  tantalizing,  and  attended  with 
deep  interest  and  excitement.  In  the  first  place,  I 
discovered,  on  the  brow  of  a  mountain  about  eight 
huniU'ed  feet  above  the  sea,  what  ai)peared  to  be  a 
recent  and  very  workmanlike  structure.  This  Avas  a 
dome, — or  rather  a  double  cone,  or  ice-house, — built 
of  very  heavy  and  tabular  slal)S,  which  no  single  per- 
son could  cany.  It  consisted  of  al)out  forty  courses, 
eight  feet  in  diameter,  and  eight  feet  in  depth,  when 
cleared,  but  only  five  in  height  from  the  base  of  the 
upi)er  cone  as  we  opened  it. 

"  Most  carefully  was  every  stone  removed,  every 
atom  of  moss  or  earth  scrutinized ;  the  stones  at  the 
bottom  also  taken  up ;  but  without  finding  a  trace  of 
any  record,  or  of  the  structure  having  been  used  by 
any  human  being.  It  was  filled  by  drift  snow,  but 
did  not  in  any  respect  bear  the  appearance  of  havino- 
been  built  more  than  a  season.  This  was  named 
*  Mount  Discovery.' " 

Soon  afterward  two  structures  were  found  whitli 
appeared  to  be  graves.  "  Each,"  says  Belchei',  "  was 
like  the  dome,  of  large  selected  slabs,  having  at  each 
end  three  separate  stones,  laid  as  we  should  place 


nell 
lied 

(t\;t 
uliig 
new 
^vel•e 
eiitly 

any- 
,o  V)t' 

]ouv- 

^vitll 

lace,  1 
eiglit 

^o  be  a 

was  a 

p-lniilt 

jle  per- 

oiirses, 

,  when 

of  the 

I,  every 
at  the 
:raee  of 
ised  hy 
.w,  but 
having 
named 

which 

ir,  "  was 

lat  each 

place 


UttCliY    ISLANU. 


TIIK    irK    HAliltlKR. 


p! 


Mi 


m 


1 


)f4 


.#1 
i  ! 

,:;l 

CAPTAIN    KELLETT  S    ADVENTURES. 


341 


head  and  foot  stones.  So  thoroughly  satisfied  was  I 
that  there  was  no  dehision,  I  desisted  from  disturbing 
a  stone  until  it  should  be  forraally  done  by  the  i)arty 
assembled. 

"  The  evening  following — for  where  the  sun  is  so 
oppressive  to  the  eyes  l)y  day  we  travel  by  night — 
we  ascended  the  hill,  and  removed  the  stones.  Not  a 
trace  of  human  beings  !" 

Wluni  the  Assistance  and  Pioneer  were  freed  fi'om 
the  ice,  about  the  middle  of  July,  Belcher  staited  for 
Beechey  Island  ;  but  before  he  could  get  there  ice  ob- 
structed his  passage,  and  his  ships  were  frozen  in  for 
the  winter  of  1853-4  at  Baring's  Bay. 

When  spring  came  on.  Belcher  determined  to  get 
his  whole  command  back  to  England  that  season ; 
and  when  his  two  vessels  were  liberated  from  the  ice 
on  the  6th  of  August,  he  again  started  for  Beechey 
Island.  But  when  nearly  there  an  ice-floe,  extending 
a  distance  of  twenty  miles  l)etween  him  and  the  ojien 
water  of  Barrow's  Strait,  arrested  his  progress ;  and 
believing  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  the 
Assistance  and  Pioneer  through  this  ice.  Belcher  and 
his  crews  deserted  them  on  the  2fith  of.  August  18r)4, 
and  made  their  Avay  to  Beechey  Island. 

When  C.'iptain  Kellet  parted  from  Belcher  at 
Beechey  Island,  in  August  1852,  he  took  the  Resolute 
and  Pioneer  to  their  winter  quarters  at  Dealy  Island, 
oif  the  south  coast  of  ^[elville  Island,  and  immedi- 
ately sent  out  parties  to  deposit  provisions  along  the 
coast  for  the  searching  expeditions  of  the  ensuing 
spi'ing.  McClintock  Avent  northerly  to  Ilecla  and 
Griper  Gulf,  and  Lieut.  Meacham  went  westerly  to 
Liddon  Gulf.  At  AVinter  Harbor,  Meacham  visited 
"Parry's  Sandstone,"  and  found  on  it  a  small  cairn 


1 
I 


1^  f 


fp' 


842 


SEARCHES   I'OU    I'UANKLIN. 


i    ' 


t  ■  \ 


which  McClintock  had  erected  the  year  })efore.  On 
examining  this  cairn  he  found  a  copper  cylinder,  in 
which  was  a  roll  folded  in  a  Idadder.  On  oj)ening 
this  roll,  Meacham,  to  his  great  astonishment,  found 
that  it  had  been  left  there  April  28th,  1852,  by 
McClure  of  the  Investigator,  and  that  it  contained  an 
account  of  the  cruise  of  that  ship  since  she  left  Ber- 
ing's Strait  in  1850. 

This  was  a  discovery  indeed.  The  Investigator 
had  not  been  heard  from  for  two  years,  and  here  was 
information,  in  the  hand-writing  of  her  commander, 
that  she  was  safely  moored  in  Mercy  Bay,  on  the 
.opposite  side  of  Banks'  Strait,  only  six  months  pre- 
viously. More  than  this — a  North-west  passage  had 
been  discovered.  Meacham  hastened  back  to  his  ship 
with  the  joyful  news. 

It  was  then  too  late  in  the  season  to  undertake  a 
journey  to  Mercy  Bay,  distant  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty miles;  but  early  the  next  spring,  March  10th, 
1853,  a  "  forlorn  hope  "  party  of  ten  men,  led  by  Lieut. 
Pirn  of  the  Resolute,  started  off  across  the  strait  to 
search  for  the  Investigator.  Little  hope  of  finding 
McClure  was  entertained,  as  it  was  presumed  he  was 
no  longer  at  Mercy  Bay.  The  labor  of  dragging  their 
large  sledge  over  the  broken  ice  and  hummocks  was 
most  tedious  and  fatiguing;  and  when  it  finally  broke 
down,  Pim  turned  it  back,  and  with  two  men  and  the 
the  little  Fitzjames  pushed  briskly  on. 

Banks'  Land  was  reached  at  last,  and  then,  after 
many  more  days  of  weary  travel,  the  Bay  of  Mercy 
came  in  view.  No  ship  was  seen ;  but  as  the  party 
proceeded  across  the  bay  in  search  of  records, 
something  black  was  noticed  in  the  distance.  On  look- 
ing at  it  through  his  glass,  Pim  decided  that  it  was 


ABANDONMENT    OF    THE    SHIPS. 


343 


a  ship,  aiul  liurrying  on  ahead  of  liis  companions, 
met  liis  old  friend  MeClure  a.s  already  related. 

In  April,  three  other  sledge  expeditions  were  sent 
out  by  Kellett,  Avhieli  thoroughly  searched  Mrlville 
Island  and  all  the  land  to  the  north  and  west  thereof. 
McClintock  was  absent  one  lunnlred  and  six  davs,  and 
explored  twelve  luindred  miles  of  coast ;  Meaehani 
traveled  over  a  thousand  miles  in  ninety-three  days; 
Lieut.  Hamilton  made  a  shorter  journey  to  the  north- 
east; hut  none  of  them  found  any  traees  of  Fraidclin. 

The  ice  around  the  ships  did  not  break  uj>  till  the 
18th  of  August,  and  an  attem})t  was  then  nnuh'  to  get 
them  to  Beeehey  Island ;  but  it  proved  unsuccessful,  and 
early  in  September  they  were  again  fast  in  the  new 
ice.  For  two  months  the  ships  drifted  back  and  forth 
with  the  floe,  and  then  came  to  a  stand-still  in  longitude 
101°,  at  a  place  due  east  of  AVintei-  Har])or.  Ilei-e  they 
passed  the  winter  of  1853-4.  In  the  sj)ring,  searches 
for  Franklin  were  renewed,  and  in  A})ril,  Lieut.  Mea- 
ehani found  at  Princess  Royal  Island,  documents  left 
by  Collinson  in  August,  1852. 

On  returning  to  the  ships,  IVIeacham  found  all  hands 
busy  preparing  to  abandon  them,  as  })erein})tory  orders 
to  that  eifect  had  been  received  from  Belcher.  Every- 
thing al)Out  the  vessels  was  put  in  perfect  order; 
and  then  the  hatches  were  calked  down,  and  Kellett 
and  his  men  started  with  sledges  for  Beeehey  Island 
where  McClure  and  his  crew  had  already  gone. 

On  Belcher's  arrival  at  Beeehey  Island,  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  five  deserted  shij»s  took  passage  for 
home  on  the  North  Star.  Just  as  they  were  starting, 
two  vessels — the  Phoenix  and  Talbot,  bringing  dis- 
patches and   supplies  for   Belcher — hove   in   sight. 

Thereupon,  a  portion  of  the  men  went  aboard  Captain 
21 


^^m- 


,     ! 


844 


KETUUN    TO    KNOLAND. 


I 


m 


Inglcfu'Ul'H  HliipH,  and  the  tliroc  sailed  for  England, 
where  they  arrived  Septenilx'r  28th,  1854. 

Of  the  five  ves.sels  thus  abandoned  in  185.3-4,  only 
one  has  since  l)een  heard  from.  In  September,  1m55, 
as  Captain  James  Bud<lin<^ton,  oominander  of  a  New 
London  whaler,  was  drifting  in  the  iee  of  liaftin's  Bay, 
he  esjiied  through  his  glass  a  ship  some  twenty  miles 
oft'.  For  seven  days  the  two  ships  gradually  approach- 
ed each  other;  then  Buddington  sent  four  of  his  men 
over  the  iee  to  find  out  what  the  craft  was.  As  the 
party  neared  the  strangi'r,  after  a  day's  journey,  they 
found  that  she  Avas  fast  in  the  ice,  an«l  ap})arently 
deserted,  as  they  saw  no  one  and  received  no  answer 
to  their  shouts.  A  dread  came  over  the  men  as  they 
climbed  ujxm  her  decks.  Everything  was  in  order; 
and  over  the  helm  was  tlu;  motto,  in  letters  of  brass, 
"  England  expects  every  num  to  do  his  duty." 

On  descending  to  the  cabin  and  striking  a  light, 
the  mystery  was  solved,  for  there  they  found  the  log- 
book of  the  Resolute,  which  had  l)roken  from  her 
icy  fetters  and  drifted  eastward  into  Baffin's  Bay, 

The  interior  of  the  Resolute  was  in  a  bad  condition, 
but  Buddington  with  ten  of  his  crew  carried  her 
safely  to  New  London  after  a  most  uncomfortaT)le 
voyage.  The  sequel  is  an  honor  to  both  England  and 
the  United  States.  The  former  having  released  all 
her  claims  in  favor  of  the  salvors,  Congress  bought 
and  refitted  the  Resolute,  and  sent  her  in  charge  of 
oflficers  and  sailors  of  the  U.  S.  Navy,  to  England, 
where  she  was  formally  presented  to  Queen  Victoria 
in  December,  1856.  T'  e  whole  affair  was  well  cal- 
culated to  hasten  an  "  era  of  good  feeling  "  between 
these  two  nations. 


CIIAI»TER  XXVIII. 

SEARCHES  FOR  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN. 

(expeditions  of  cai»tain  inolefield  and  du.  uae.) 

Caitain  Inolefield  sailed  from  Englaiul  July  fitli, 
1852,  in  the  stemner  Isabel,  to  ascertain  it'  the  belief 
of  Sir  John  Ross  that  Franklin  ha«l  lost  his  life  on  the 
western  shores  of  Greenland  was  well  founded. 

On  reaching  Baffin's  Bay,  Inglefield  })uslied  boldly 
north  to  Smith's  Soun«l  and  examined  that  noble  chan- 
nel— which  had  hitherto  baffled  explorers — as  far  north 
as  78"  tJO'.  He  was  at  first,  deluded  with  tin?  'dea  tiiat 
he  had  found  a  climate  mikUu"  than  that  of  Baffin's  Buy, 
but  this  delusion  a  violent  storm  soon  dispelhid. 
Very  likely  the  storm  proved  his  salvation,  for  other- 
wise he  might  have  pushed  on  and  been  ice-anchored 
where  esca])e  would  have  been  impossible,  and  the 
Isabel  did   not  go  prepared  to  pass  an  Arctic  night. 

The  gale  drove  him  back  none  too  soon,  for  the  cold 
soon  became  intense,  and  the  spray  froze  as  it  l)rokeon 
the  land.  Icebergs  and  loose  cakes  of  ice  were  all 
around  the  Isabel  and  it  was  only  by  getting  up 
steam  by  the  aid  of  blubber  that  she  forced  a  way 
out  of  her  difficulties. 

Inglefield  arrived  in  England  Nov.  4th,  1852.     His 

345 


111 

? 


It 


!, 


846 


SEAECHES   FOR   FRANKLrBT. 


■•til. 


trip  was  a  short  one,  but  it  was  remarkably  success- 
ful,  so  far  as  its  immediate  object  was  concerned. 

Early  in  1853,   Captain  Inglefield   was  again  sent 
out  in  command   of  the  Phoenix  and  Lady  Franldin, 
to  reinforce  B^^lcher's  squadron.     Lieut,  Bellot,  the 
gallant  young  Frenchman  who  liad  figured  so  con- 
spicuously in  the  voyage  of   the  Pj'ince  Albert,  ac- 
companied Capt.  Inglefield,  and  the  saddest  incident 
connected  with  the  expedition  was  the  death  of  this 
hero.     In  August,  1853,  Bellot  volunteered  to  carry 
dispatches  from    Captain  Pullen  of  the  North  Star, 
over  the  ice  to  Sir  Edward  Belcher,  who  was  at  that 
time  near  Cai)e  Beecher  iu  Wellington  Channel,  and 
started  from  Beechcy  Island  August  12th,  with  four 
men  named    Harvey,  Johnson,  Madden,  and   Hook. 
The  ice  at  this  season  of  the  year  is  always  treacher- 
ous, and   Bellot  was  cautioned  to  keep  as  close  as 
possible  to  the  eastern  shore  of  Wellington  Channel. 
He  encouraged  his  men  with  his  usual  hilanty,  and 
put  his  own  shoulder  to  the  tracking   lines  as  they 
plodded  along  on  the  ice. 

Approaching  Cape  Grinnell,  Bellot  found  that  there 
was  a  broad  belt  of  water  between  the  ice  and  the 
shore.  Nothing  daunted  he  pushed  out  with  his  In- 
dia-rubber boat,  to  convey  a  line  to  the  cape  by 
which  the  remainder  of  the  party  and  the  provisions 
could  be  dragged  over ;  but  the  Annd  blew  furiously 
and  he  could  not,  alone,  make  headway.  According- 
ly he  remained  on  the  ice,  and  ordered  Harvey  and 
Madden  to  cross  over  with  the  line,  which  they  suc- 
cessfully accomplished.  Madden  remained  on  the 
shore  to  hold  the  line,  and  three  boat  loads  of  pro- 
visions had  been  conveyed  across  the  water  when  the 
ice  was  discovered  to  be  on  the  move.     Harvey  and 


DEATH    OF   BELLOT. 


347 


Madden  were  both  at  tliis  time  on  the  land,  "but  of 
course  could  not  hold  on  to  the  line,  though  Madden 
did  not  let  go  till  hauled  into  the  water  u])  to 
his  waist,  when  Bellot  called  to  him  to  let  her 
slide.  Bellot,  Johnson  and  Hook  were  now  drifting 
to  sea  on  a  floe  of  ice,  with  a  bitter  wind  driving 
them  further  and  further  from  hope  of  escape. 
Madden  and  Harvey  for  two  hours  watched  their 
companions  drifting  away,  powerless  to  render  them 
any  assistance,  and  then  began  to  retrace  their  steps 
to  the  ship.  Taking  what  provisions  they  could  carry, 
they  walked  around  Griffin  Bay  and  were  rounding 
Cape  Bowden,  when  to  their  surprise  they  met  their 
lost  comjianions  Johnson  and  Hook,  whose  sad 
countenances  too  plainly  told  the  story  of  the  third, 
the  brave  and  gleeful  Lieutenant. 

The  account  they  gave  of  Bellot's  sad  fate  was 
briefly  this.  After  finding  themselves  fairly  afloat, 
they  made  an  ice  house  which  might  protect  them 
from  the  wind,  Bellot  cheerfully  remarking,  "  When 
tlie  Lord  protects  us  not  a  hair  of  our  heads  shall  be 
touched."  They  talked  over  the  danger  of  their  situ- 
ation calmly  for  half  an  hour,  when  Bellot  said  lie 
would  go  out  and  see  how  the  ice  was  drifting.  Li 
a  few  minutes  Johnson  followed  but  could  see  noth- 
ing of  the  Lieutenant,  but  there  was  a  crack  in  the 
ice  near  by,  some  five  fathoms  wide,  and  on  the  op- 
posite side  the  crack  lay  Bellot's  stick.  The  wind 
was  blowing  a  gale,  and  the  gallant  Frenchman  was 
probably  blown  into  the  water,  and  drifted  under  the 
ice.  His  companions  shouted  "  Bellot !  Bellot !"  but 
there  was  no  response.  The  floe  drifted  to  Point 
Hogarth,  when  Johnson  and  Hook  made  their  escai)e 
to  terra  firma. 


I?  4 


!''  J  i 


'  if ;  f 


, If  i^',,--;  ■>*'*< 


Hyft 


I 


n 


i-fci?i 


iiUti 


¥W^ 


mi 


348 


SEARCHES   FOR   FRANKLm. 


"  Poor  Bellot !"  "  Poor  Bellot !"  was  the  exclamation 
of  all,  Esquimaux  included,  as  they  learned  his  un- 
timely end.  His  was  a  generous,  noble  nature.  With 
sincere  sympathy  for  Lady  Franklin,  he  entered  the 
English  service  for  the  sole  purpose  of  aiding  in  the 
discovery  of  her  noble  husband ;  and  of  the  many  who 
are  buried  in  the  waters  and  frost-bound  lands  of  the 
Arctic  regions,  the  memory  of  none  is  cherished  more 
ardently  by  his  companions  than  Lieutenant  Bellot. 
England  showed  her  appreciation  of  his  services  by 
a  liberal  subscription  to  his  family  and  by  a  monu- 
ment to  his  memory  in  Greenwich  Hospital. 

Ino-lefield  returned  to  Ens-land  in  the  autumn  of 
1853.  He  was  accompanied  by  Lieut.  Creswell  of 
the  Investigator,  who  carried  home  dispatches  announ- 
cing the  discovery  of  a  North-Avest  l^assage. 

In  1853,  Dr.  Rae,  who  had  made  a  land  expedition 
in  1851  in  which  he  had  thoroughly  explored  the 
coast  of  North  America  as  far  east  as  longitude  110'', 
was  induced  to  undertake  a  similar  expedition  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  Hudson's  BayCcmipany.  His 
former  survey  had  made  him  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  coast,  and  had  proved  that  he  was  the  right 
man  to  head  another  expedition.  In  this  year  he 
however  advanced  only  as  far  as  Bepulse  Bay,  which 
he  reached  on  the  15t]i  of  August,  and  then  went  into 
winter-quarters.  His  researches  the  succeeding  sum- 
mer, and  his  important  discoveries,  which  proved 
to  be  the  key  that  unlocked  the  mysterious  fate  of 
Sir  John  Franklin,  are  related  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
THE  FmST  AMERICAN  EXPEDITION. 

When  the  year  1848  had  arrived  without  any 
tidings  of  Sir  Jolin  Franklin  or  his  party,  Great  Britain, 
as  heretofore  stated,  dispatched  three  expeditions 
to  look  fori  Pern.  But  peculiar  drawbacks  seemed 
to  attend  their  efforts,  and  hefore  the  beginning  of 
1850  they  had  all  abandoned  the  search,  almost  with- 
out attaining  the  first  threshold  of  inquiry. 

Their  failure  aroused  every  where  the.  generous 
sympathies  of  men.  Science  felt  for  its  votaries,  hu- 
manity mourned  its  fellows,  and  an  impulse,  holier 
and  more  energetic  than  either,  invoked  a  crusade 
of  rescue.  That  admirable  woman,  the  wife  of  Sir 
John  Franklin,  not  content  with  stimulating  the  re- 
newed efforts  of  her  own  countrymen,  claimed  the 
co-operation  of  the  world.  In  letters  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  full  of  the  eloquence  of  feeling, 
she  called  on  us,  as  a  **  kindred  people,  to  join  heart 
and  hand  in  the  enterprise  of  snatching  the  lost  navi- 
gators from  a  dreary  grave." 

The  delays  incident  to  much  of  our  national  legis- 
lation menaced  the  defeat  of  her  appeal.  The  bill 
making  appropriations  for  the  outfit  of  an  expedition 
lingered  on  its  passage,  and  the  season  for  commenc- 
ing  operations  had  nearly  gone  by. 


(lit"; 


hm 


^ 


350 


OEIGIN      OF      EXPEDITION. 


:'     ; 


At  this  juncture,  a  noble-spirited  mercliant  of  Ne\v 
York  fitted  out  two  of  his  own  vessels  and  proffered 
them  gratuitously  to  the  government.  Thus  prompted 
by  the  munificent  liberality  of  Mr.  Grinnell,  Congress 
hastened  to  take  the  expedition  under  its  charge,  and 
authoi'ized  the  president  to  detail  from  the  na^'y  such 
necessary  oflScers  and  seamen  as  might  be  willing  to 
engage  in  it.  The  command  was  given  to  Lieutenant 
Edwin  De  Haven,  and  the  two  vessels,  named  "  Ad- 
vance "  and  "  Rescue,"  sailed  from  New  York  on  tlie 
22d  day  of  May,  1850. 

Dr.  Elisha  Kent  Kane,  a  native  of  Philadelphia, 
already  distinguished  for  his  world-wide  travels,  scien- 
tific enthusiasm  and  gallant  bearing,  having  repeatedly 
volunteered  for  the  service,  accompanied  tlie  expedi- 
tion as  its  senior  medical  oflicer  and  naturalist,  and 
on  his  return  published  its  history  in  the  form  of  a 
"  Personal  Narrative."  From  this  work  we  give,  by 
permission,  in  Dr.  Kane's  own  words,  a  condensed 
account  of  the 

UNITED  STATES  GEIITITELL  EXPEDITION. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  while  bathing  in  the  tepid 
waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  I  received  one  of  those 
courteous  little  epistles  from  Washington  which  the 
electric  telegraph  has  made  so  fanuliar  to  naval  offi- 
cers. It  detached  me  from  the  coast  survey,  and  or- 
dered me  to  *'  proceed  forthwith  to  New  York,  for  duty 
upon  the  Arctic  Expedition." 

Seven  and  a  half  days  later,  I  had  accomplished  my 
overland  journey  of  thirteen  hundred  miles,  and  in 
forty  hours  more  our  squadron  was  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  United  States :  the  Department  had  calcidated 
my  traveling  time  to  a  nicety. 


THE     ADVANCE     AND     RESCUE, 


351 


A  very  few  books  and  a  stock  of  coarse  woolen 
clothing,  re-enforced  by  a  magnificent  robe  of  wolf- 
skins, that  had  wandered  down  to  me  from  the  snow- 
drifts of  Utah,  constituted  my  entire  outfit ;  and  with 
these  I  made  my  report  to  Commodore  Salter  at  the 
Brooklyn  Navy  Yard. 

Almost  within  the  shadow  of  the  line-of-battle  ship 
North  Carolina,  their  hulls  completely  hidden  beneath 
a  projecting  wharf,  were  two  little  hermaphrodite  brigs. 
Their  spars  had  no  man-of-war  trigness ;  their  decks 
were  choked  with  half-stowed  cargo ;  and  for  size,  I 
felt  as  if  I  could  straddle  from  the  main  hatch  to  the 
bulwarks. 

At  this  first  sight  of  the  Grinnell  Expedition,  I  con- 
fess that  the  fastidious  experience  of  naval  life  on 
board  frigates  and  corvettes  made  me  look  down  on 
these  humble  vessels.  They  seemed  to  me  more  like 
a  couple  of  coasting  schooners  than  a  national  squad- 
ron bound  for  a  perilous  and  distant  sea.  Many  a 
time  afterward  I  recalled  the  short-sighted  ignorance 
of  these  first  impressions,  when  some  rude  encounter 
with  the  ice  made  comfort  and  dignity  very  secondary 
thoughts. 

The  "Advance,"  my  immediate  home,  had  been  orig- 
inally intended  for  the  transport  of  machinery.  Her 
timbers  were  heavily  moulded,  and  her  fastenings  of 
the  most  careful  sort.  She  was  fifty-three  tons  larger 
than  her  consort,  the  *'  Rescue  ;"  yet  both  together 
barely  equaled  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  tons. 

Of  my  brother  officers  I  can  not  say  a  word.  I  am 
so  intimately  bound  to  them  by  the  kindly  and  un- 
broken associations  of  friend  and  mess-mate,  that  I 
shrink  from  any  other  mention  of  them  than  such  as 
my  narrative  requires.     All  told,  our  little  corps  of 


AiM^ 


I  aM  n 


.; 


.*nt; 


;,M: 


ti^a 


352 


LEAVE     NEW     YORK     nAllBOR. 


officers  numbered  four  for  each  ship,  including  that 
non-effective  limb,  the  doctor.  Our  two  crews,  with 
the  aid  of  a  cook  and  steward,  counted  twelve  and 
thirteen;  giving  a  total  of  but  thirty-three. 


ADVANCE. 

Officers. 

Lieutenant  Commanding — Edwin  J.  De  Haven,  commanding  the  expedition. 
Passed  Midshipman — William  H.  Murdaugh,  acting  master  and  first  oflicer. 
Midshipman — William  I.  Lovell,  second  officer. 

E.  K.  Kane,  M.D.,  passed  assistant  surgeon. 


it'*. 


h  W 


RESCUE. 

Officers. 

Acting  Master — Samuel  P.  Griffin,  commanding  the  Rescue. 

Passed  Midshipman — Rohort  11.  Carter,  acting  master  and  first  officer. 

Boatswain — Henry  Brooks,  second  officer. 

Benjamin  Vreeland,  M.D.,  assistant  surgeon. 

About  one  o'clock  on  the  2 2d  of  May,  the  asthmatic 
old  .stocun-tng  that  was  to  be  our  escort  to  the  sea 
moved  slowly  off.  Our  adieux  i'rom  the  Navy  Yard 
were  silent  enough.  We  cost  our  country  no  compli- 
mentary gunpowder;  and  it  was  not  until  we  got 
abreast  of  the  city  that  the  crowded  wharves  and 
shipping  showed  how  much  that  bigger  community 
sympathized  with  our  undertaking.  Cheers  and  hur- 
ras followed  us  till  we  had  passed  the  Battery,  and 
the  ferry-boats  and  steamers  came  out  of  their  track 
to  salute  us  in  the  bay. 

The  sky  was  overcast  before  we  lost  sight  of  the 
spire  of  old  Trinity ;  and  by  evening  it  had  clouded 
over  so  rapidly,  that  it  was  evident  M'^e  had  to  look  for 
a  dirty  night  outside.  Off  Sandy  Hook  the  wind  fresh- 
ened, and  the  sea  grew  so  rough,  that  we  were  forced 
to  part  abruptly  from  the  frioiuls  who  had  kept  us 


ADVANCE   ASP    KKSUUl';   AT   l<AVV-i\aia>. 


OUU    KIIIST    ;('K.llK,R(i 


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i 


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hi 


r  *r 


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%'■■:.  >  Jim 

■m  '1 

Vii 


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*~''r  » 


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''     ■■■.;!    . 
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i-:'t' 


THE    GOOD-BY. 


355 


company.  We  were  eating  and  drinking  in  our  little 
cabin,  when  the  summons  came  for  them  to  hurry  up 
instantly  and  leap  aboard  the  boat.  The  same  heavy 
squall  which  made  us  cast  loose  so  suddenly  the  cable 
of  the  steamer  gathered  upon  us  the  night  and  the 
storm  together;  and  in  a  lew  minutes  our  transition 
was  complete,  from  harbor  life  and  home  associations 
to  the  discomforts  and  hardships  of  our  career. 

The  difference  struck  me,  and  not  quite  pleasantly, 
as  I  climbed  over  straw  and  rubbish  into  the  little  pe- 
culium  which  was  to  be  my  resting-place  for  so  long 
a  time.  The  cabin,  which  made  the  homestead  of  lour 
human  beings,  was  somewhat  less  in  dimensions  than 
a  penitentiary  cell.  There  was  just  room  enough  for 
two  berths  of  six  feet  each  on  a  side ;  and  the  area 
between,  which  is  known  to  naval  men  as  "  the  coun- 
try," seemed  completely  filled  up  with  the  hinged  ta- 
ble, the  four  camp-stools,  and  the  lockers.  A  hanging 
lamp,  that  creaked  uneasily  on  its  "  gimbals,"  illus- 
trated through  the  mist  some  long  rows  ol'  crockery 
shelves  and  the  dripping  step-ladder  that  led  directly 
from  the  wet  deck  above.  Every  thing  spoke  of  cheer- 
less discomfort  and  narrow  restraint. 

By  the  next  day  the  storm  had  abated.  AVe  were 
out  of  sight  of  land,  but  had  not  yet  parted  with  the 
last  of  our  well-wishers.  A  beautiful  pilot-boat,  the 
Washington,  with  Mr.  Grinnell  and  his  sons  on  board, 
continued  to  bear  us  company.  But  on  the  2.5th  we 
saw  the  white  flag  hoisted  as  the  signal  of  farewell. 
We  closed  up  our  letters  and  took  them  aboard,  drank 
healths,  shook  hands — and  the  wind  being  fair,  were 
out  of  sight  of  the  schooner  before  evening. 

I  now  began,  with  an  instinct  of  future  exigencies, 
to  fortify  my  retreat.     The  only  spot  I  could  call  my 


I 


IM    i 


i  i 


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1 


356 


CREATURE     COMFORTS. 


IP 

I! 


;  f 


i    ^.^ 


\     '     ' 


hi 


/ 


ilii 


own  was  the  berth  I  have  spoken  of  before.  It  was 
a  sort  of  hunk — a  right-angled  excavation,  of  six  feet 
by  two  feet  eight  in  horizontal  dimensions,  let  into 
the  side  of  the  vessel,  with  a  height  of  something  less 
than  a  yard.  My  first  care  was  to  keep  water  out,  my 
second  to  make  it  warm.  A  bundle  of  tacks,  and  a 
few  yards  of  India-rubber  cloth,  soon  made  me  an  im- 
penetrable  casing  over  the  entire  wood-work.  Upon 
this  were  laid  my  Mormon  wolf-skin  and  a  somewhat 
ostentatious  Astracan  fur  cloak,  a  relic  of  former  travel. 
Two  little  wooden  shelves  held  my  scanty  library ;  a 
third  supported  a  reading  lamp,  or,  upon  occasion,  a 
Berzelius'  argand,  to  be  lighted  when  the  dampness 
made  an  increase  of  heat  necessary.  My  watch  ticked 
from  its  particular  nail,  and  a  more  noiseless  monitor, 
my  thermometer,  occupied  another.  My  ink-bottle 
was  suspended,  pendulum  fashion,  from  a  hook,  and  to 
one  long  string  was  fastened,  like  the  ladle  of  a  street- 
pump,  my  entire  toilet,  a  tooth-brush,  a  comb,  and  a 
hair-brush. 

Now,  when  all  these  distributions  had  been  happily 
accomplished,  and  I  crawled  in  from  the  wet,  and  cold, 
and  disorder  of  without,  through  a  slit  in  the  India- 
rubber  cloth,  to  the  very  centre  of  my  complicated  re- 
sources, it  would  be  hard  for  any  one  to  realize  the 
quantity  of  comfort  which  I  felt  I  had  manufactured. 
My  lamp  burned  brightly ;  little  or  no  water  distilled 
from  the  roof;  my  furs  warmed  me  into  satisfaction; 
and  I  realized  that  I  was  sweating  myself  out  of  my 
preliminary  cold,  and  could  temper  down  at  pleasure 
the  abruptness  of  my  acclimation. 

From  this  time  I  began  my  journal.  At  first  its 
entries  were  little  else  than  a  selfish  record  of  personal 
discomforts.     It  was  less  than  a  fortnight  since  I  was 


OFF    NEWFOUNDLAND. 


357 


under  the  sky  of  Florida,  looking  out  on  the  live  oak 
with  its  bearded  moss,  and  breathing  the  magnolia. 
Comlbrtable  as  my  bunk  was,  compared  with  the  deck, 
I  was  conscious  that,  on  the  whole,  I  had  not  bettered 
my  quarters. 

But  with  the  7th  of  June  came  fine,  bright,  bracing 
weatlier.  We  were  off  Newfoundland,  getting  along 
well  over  a  smooth  sea.  We  had  been  looking  at  the 
low  hills  near  Cape  Race,  when,  about  noon,  a  great 
mass  of  whiteness  was  seen  floating  in  the  sunshine. 
It  was  our  first  iceberg.  It  was  in  shape  an  oblong 
cube,  and  about  twice  as  large  as  Girard  College.  Its 
color  was  an  unmixed,  but  not  dazzling  white  :  indeed, 
it  seemed  entirely  coated  with  snow  of  such  unsullied, 
unreflecting  purity,  that,  as  we  passed  within  a  hund- 
red yards  of  it,  not  a  glitter  reached  us.  It  reminded 
me  of  a  great  marble  monolith,  only  awaiting  the  chisel 
to  stand  out  in  peristyle  and  pediment  a  floating  Par- 
thenon. There  was  something  very  imposing  in  the 
impassive  tranquillity  with  which  it  received  the  lash- 
ings of  the  sea. 

The  next  day  we  were  off  St.  John's,  surrounded  by 
bergs,  which  nearly  blockaded  the  harbor.  A  boat's 
crew  of  six  brawny  Saxon  men  rowed  out  nine  miles 
to  meet  us,  and  offer  their  services  as  pilots.  They 
were  disappointed  when  we  told  them  we  were  "  bound 
for  Greenland ;"  but  their  hearty  countenances  bright- 
ened into  a  glow  when  we  added,  "  in  search  of  Sir 
John  Franklin." 

We  ran  into  an  iceberg  the  night  after,  and  carried 
away  our  jib-boom  and  martingale:  it  was  our  first 
adventure  with  these  mountains  of  the  sea.  We 
thumped  against  it  for  a  few  seconds,  but  slid  off 
smoothly  enough  into  open  water  afterward. 


,if*:i^r 


hi'. 


fL.,J 


:\    f     1 


358 


THE     AKCTIC     DAY. 


i-  t 


yl  i 


We  wore  now  drawinfj  noar  to  Davis's  Straits,  and 
the  names  which  recorded  our  prog^ress  upon  the  charts 
were  full  of  Arctic  associations.  The  Meta  Inroffnita 
of  Frobisher  and  the  Cape  of  God's  Mercy  |;,'reetcd  lis 
from  the  American  coast :  Cape  Farewell  was  on  our 
starboard  quarter,  and  the  "  Land  of  Desolation"  nearly 
abeam. 

Our  enemies,  the  iceberpfs — for  we  had  not  yet 
learned  to  regard  them  as  friends — made  their  appear- 
ance again  on  the  16th.  One  of  them  was  an  irreg. 
ular  quadrangle,  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  in 
its  presenting  face. 

The  night  had  now  left  us :  we  were  in  the  contin- 
uous sunlight  of  the  Arctic  summer.  I  copy  the  en- 
tries from  my  journal  of  the  17th. 

"  We  are  just  '  turning  in,'  that  is,  seeking  our  den 
for  sleep.  It  has  been  a  long  day,  but  to  me  a  God- 
send, so  clear  and  fogless.  My  time-piece  points  to 
half  past  nine,  and  yet  the  sunshine  is  streaming  down 
the  little  hatchway. 

"Our  Arctic  day  has  commenced.  Last  night  we 
read  the  thermometer  without  a  lantern,  and  the 
binnacle  was  not  lighted  up.  To-day  the  sun  sets 
after  ten,  to  rise  again  before  two;  and  during  the 
bright  twilight  interval  he  will  dip  but  a  few  degrees 
below  the  horizon.  We  have  followed  him  for  some 
time  past  in  one  scarcely  varying  track  of  brightness. 
The  words  night  and  day  begin  to  puzzle  me,  as  I  rec- 
ognize the  arbitrary  character  of  the  hour  cycies  that 
have  borne  these  names.  Indeed,  I  miss  that  soothing 
tranquillizer,  the  dear  old  darkness,  and  can  hardly,  as 
I  give  way  to  sleep,  bid  the  mental  good-night  which 
travelers  like  to  send  from  their  darkened  pillows  to 
friends  at  home. 


and 
larta 
rnita 
id  us 
1  our 
early 

t  yet 
)pear- 
irreg- 
ng  in 

'ontin- 
he  en- 

ur  den 

a  God- 

ints  to 

down 


ht  we 

d  the 
11  n  sets 
n<T  the 
[legrees 
»r  some 
:litness. 
1  rec- 
les  that 
oothing 
rdly,  as 
which 
hows  to 


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-i     H-l' 


THE   SUKKERTOPPEN. 


ii^- 


iti''\ 


ii| 


i   i 


ENTERING    DISCO. 


I  ^4 


THE     SUKKERTOPPEN. 


361 


On  the  20th  an  unknown  schooner  came  within  the 
same  dome  of  mist  with  ourselves.  We  had  not  seen 
a  sail  since  leaving  Newfoundland,  and  the  sight 
pleased  us.  We  showed  our  colors,  but  the  little  craft 
declined  a  reciprocation. 

On  the  same  day,  j  utting  up  above  the  misty  hori- 
zon,  we  sighted  the  mountainous  coast  of  Greenland. 
It  was  a  bold  antiphrasis  that  gave  such  a  vernal  title 
to  this  birth-place  of  icebergs.  Old  Crantz,  the  quaint- 
est, and,  in  many  things,  the  most  exact  of  the  mis- 
sionary authorities,  says  that  it  got  the  name  from  the 
Norsemen,  because  it  was  greener  than  Iceland — a  poor 
compliment,  certainly,  to  the  land  of  the  Geysers  I 

We  first  made  the  coast  near  Sukkertoppen,  a  re- 
markable peak,  called  so,  perhaps,  because  its  form  is 
not  unlike  that  of  a  sugar-loaf,  perhaps  because  its 
top  is  whitened  with  the  snow.  Mountains  that  mark 
their  unbroken  profile  on  the  distant  sky  are  very  apt 
to  suggest  these  fanciful  remembrances  to  the  naviga- 
tor ;  and  it  is  probably  this  which  makes  their  names 
so  frequently  characteristic. 

This  peak  is  a  noted  landmark,  and  gives  its  name 
to  the  entire  district  it  overlooks.  Our  own  observa- 
tions confirm  those  of  Graah  and  Ross,  which  place  it 
in  latitude  65°  22'  north,  longitude  53°  05'  west.  It 
may  be  seen  under  ordinary  circumstances  many  miles 
out  to  sea. 

We  were  fiivored  in  our  view  of  the  Sukkertoppen. 
We  had  approached  it  through  an  atmosphere  of  fog ; 
and  when  the  morning  of  the  23d  gave  us  a  clear  sky, 
we  found  ourselves  close  upon  the  beach,  so  close  that 
we  could  see  the  white  surf  mingling  with  the  snow 
streaks.  A  more  rugged  and  inhospitable  region  never 
met  my  eye.     Its  unyielding  expression  differed  from 


V    rjt 


IIl'-h 


■  f*  a-.'  ■ 


.<''^^\ 


m 


362 


THE     SUKKERTOPPEN. 


I      ! 


any  that  belongs  to  the  recognized  desert,  the  Sahara, 
or  the  South  American  Arridas ;  for  in  these  tropical 
wastes  there  is  rarely  wanting  some  group  of  Euphor- 
bia or  stunted  Gum  Arabic  trees,  to  qualify  by  their 
contrast  the  general  barrenness.  It  was  startling  to 
see,  beneath  a  smiling  sun  and  upon  the  level  of  the 
all-fertilizing  sea,  an  entire  country  without  an  ap- 
parent trace  of  vegetable  life. 

On  the  24th,  the  sun  did  not  pass  below  the  horizon. 
We  had  already  begun  to  realize  that  power  of  adap- 
tation to  a  new  state  of  things,  which  seems  to  be  a 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  man.  We  marked  our 
day  by  its  routine.  Though  the  temptation  to  avoid 
a  regular  bed-hour  was  sometimes  irresistible,  yet  sev- 
en bells  always  found  us  washing  by  turns  at  our  one 
tin  wash-basin  :  at  eight  bells  we  breakfasted ;  at 
eight  again  we  called  to  grog ;  two  hours  afterward 
we  met  at  dinner ;  and  at  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
we  came  with  laudable  regularity  to  our  salt  junk  and 
coffee. 

Our  daily  reckoning  kept  us  advised  of  the  recur- 
ring  noonday,  the  meridian  starting-point  of  sea-life ; 
and  our  indefatigable  master  had  his  unvarying  hour 
for  winding  up  and  comparing  the  chronometers.    It 
is  hard  not  to  mark  the  regulated  steps  of  time,  where 
such  a  man-of-war  routine  prevails ;  and  I  can  scarce- 
ly understand  the  necessity  for  the  twenty-four  hours' 
registering  dial-plate,  which  Parry  and  others  carried 
with  them,  to  avert  the  disastrous  consequences  of  a 
twelve  hours'  skip  in  their  polar  reckonings. 

We  had  now  been  a  month  and  a  day  out  from  New 
York.  Our  immediate  destination  was  the  Crown 
Prince  Islands,  more  generally  known  by  the  misno- 
mer of  the  Whale  Fish.     This  little  group  is  situated 


4i'. 


C  II  O  AV  N     r  K  I  N  C  E      I  S  L  A  Jf  D  S  . 


363 


in  the  Bay  of  Disco,  thirty  miles  south  of  the  island 
of  that  name. 

The  entrance  to  the  anchorage  from  the  southwest 
is  hetween  two  islands,  and  the  harbor,  which  is  com- 
pletely sheltered  from  ice,  is  formed,  as  will  be  seen 
from  the  sketch,  by  the  conjunction  of  a  third.  On 
turning  the  corner,  we  suddenly  came  upon  a  wood- 
en store-house  for  oil  and  skins ;  and  opposite  to  it, 
a  clumsy-looking  collier,  moored  stem  and  stern  by 
hawsers  leading  to  rocks  on  either  side  of  the  channel. 
Soon  after,  we  were  boarded  by  Lieutenant  Power,  of 
the  British  navy,  and  from  him  we  learned  that  the 
clumsy  craft  was  the  Emma  Eugenia,  a  provision 
transport  chartered  by  the  Admiralty,  and  that  in  less 
than  a  week  she  would  take  our  letters  to  England. 

We  learned,  too,  that  the  British  relief  squadron 
under  Commodore  Austin  had  sailed  the  day  before 
for  the  regions  of  search.  They  had  left  England  on 
the  6th  of  May,  or  seventeen  days  before  our  own  de- 
parture from  New  York. 

While  we  were  standing  upoii  deck,  waiting  for 
the  boat  to  be  manned  which  was  to  take  us  to  the 
shore,  something  like  a  large  Newfoundland  dog  was 
seen  moving  rapidly  through  the  water.  As  it  ap- 
proached, we  could  see  a  horn-like  prolongation  bulg- 
ing from  its  chest,  and  every  now  and  then  a  queer 
movement,  as  of  two  flapping  wings,  which,  acting 
alternately  on  tiither  side,  seemed  to  urge  it  through 
the  water.  Almost  immediately  it  was  alongside  of 
us,  and  then  we  realized  what  was  the  much  talked- 
of  kayack  of  the  Greenlanders. 

It  was  a  canoe-shaped  frame-work,  caiefully  and  en. 
tirehj  covered  with  tensely-stretched  seal-skins,  beau- 
tiful in  model,  and  graceful  as  the  nautilus,  to  which 

22 


ih  --w 


\0k 


3G4 


KAYACKS. 


i 


u 


it  has  been  compared.  With  the  exception  of  an  ellip. 
tical  hole,  nearly  in  its  centre,  to  receive  its  occupant, 
it  was  both  air  and  water  tight.  Into  this  hole  was 
wedged  its  human  freight,  a  black-locked  Esquimaux, 
enveloped  in  an  undressed  seal-skin,  drawn  tightly 
around  the  head  and  wrists,  and  fastened,  where  it 
met  the  kayack,  about  an  elevated  rim  made  for  the 
purpose,  over  which  it  slipped  like  a  bladder  over  the 
lip  of  a  jar. 

The  length  of  the  kayack  was  about  eighteen  feet, 
tapering  fore  and  aft  to  an  absolute  point.  The  beam 
was  but  twenty-one  inches.  When  laden,  as  we  saw 
•it,  the  top  or  deck  was  at  its  centre  but  two  inches 
by  measurement  above  the  water-line.  The  waves 
often  broke  completely  over  it.  A  double-bladed  oar, 
grasped  in  the  middle,  was  the  sole  propeller.  It  was 
wonderful  to  see  how  rapidly  the  will  of  the  kayacker 
communicated  itself  to  his  little  bark.  One  impulse 
seemed  to  control  both.  Indeed,  even  for  a  careful 
observer,  it  was  hard  to  say  where  the  boat  ended  or 
the  man  commenced ;  the  rider  seemed  one  with  his 
frail  craft,  an  amphibious  realization  of  the  centaur, 
or  a  practical  improvement  upon  the  merman. 

These  boats,  not  only  as  specimens  of  beautiful  na- 
val architecture,  but  from  their  controlling  influence 
upon  the  fortunes  of  their  owners,  became  to  me  sub- 
jects of  careful  study.  I  will  revert  to  them  at  an- 
other time.  As  we  rowed  to  the  shore,  crowds  of  them 
followed  us,  hanging  like  Mother  Carey's  chickens  in 
our  wake,  and  just  outside  the  sweep  of  our  oars. 

We  landed  at  a  small  cove  formed  by  two  protrud- 
ing masses  of  coarsely  granular  feldspar.  Some  forty 
odd  souls,  the  men,  women,  and  children  of  the  entire 
settlement,  received  us.     The  men  were  in  the  front 


THE    LANDEN^G. 


305      \ 


rank  ;  the  women,  with  their  infants  on  their  backs, 
came  next :  and  behind  them,  in  yelling  phalanx,  the 
children.  Still  further  back  were  crowds  of  dogs, 
seated  on  their  haunches,  and  howling  in  unison  with 
their  masters.       ; 

The  one  feeling  which,  I  venture  to  say,  pervaded 
us  all,  to  the  momentary  exclusion  of  every  thing  else, 
was  disgust.  Offal  was  strewn  around  without  regard 
to  position ;  scabs  of  drying  seal-meat  were  spread  over 
the  rocks ;  oil  and  blubber  smeared  every  thing,  from 
the  dogs'  coats  to  their  masters' ;  animal  refuse  tainted 
all  we  saw ;  and  we  afterward  found,  while  botaniz- 
ing among  the  snow  valleys,  bones  of  the  seal,  walrus, 
and  whale,  buried  in  the  mosses. 

But  if  filth  characterized  the  open  air,  what  was  it 
in  the  habitations  !  One  poor  family  had  escaped  to 
their  summer  tent,  pitched  upon  an  adjacent  rock  that 
overlooked  the  sea.  Within  a  little  area  of  six  feet 
by  eight,  I  counted  a  father,  mother,  grandfather,  and 
four  children,  a  tea-kettle,  a  rude  box,  two  rifles,  and 
a  litter  of  puppies. 

This  island  is  used  by  the  Danes  as  a  sort  of  fishing 
station,  where  one  European,  generally  a  carpenter  or 
cooper,  presides  over  a  few  families  of  Esquimaux,  who 
live  by  the  chase  of  the  seal.  This  functionary  had 
a  hut  built  of  timber,  which  we  visited.  Except  the 
oil-house,  which  we  had  observed  before,  it  was  the 
only  wooden  edifice. 

The  natives,  if  the  amalgamation  of  Dane  and  Es- 
quimaux can  be  called  such,  spend  their  summer  in 
the  reindeer  tent,  their  winters  in  the  semi-subterra. 
nean  hut.  These  last  have  not  been  materially  im- 
proved since  the  days  of  Egede  and  Fabricius.  A 
square  inclosure  of  stone  or  turf  is  raftered  over  with 


:i: 


fi 


ii,  ::■-:''!; 


■■  ■ ''  :  li'  '    . , 


366 


THE     DWELLNGS. 


drift-wood  or  whalebones,  and  then  roofed  in  with 
earth,  skins,  mosses,  and  broken-up  kayack  frames. 
One  small  aperture  of  eighteen  inches  square,  cover- 
ed with  the  scraped  intestines  of  the  seal,  forms  the 
window  •  and  a  long,  tunnel-like  entry,  opening  to  the 
south,  and  not  exceeding  three  feet  in  height,  leads 
to  a  skin-covered  door.  Inside,  perched  upon  an  ele- 
vated dais  or  stall,  with  an  earthen  lamp  to  establish 
the  "f  r'-^s,'"  ;^everal  families  reside  together. 


i 


i..k 


CHART  OK  THE  WHALE-FISH    ISLANDS. 


LIEVELY. 


3g; 


Our  commander  intended  to  remain  at  the  Crown 
Prince  Islands  no  longer  than  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  our  consort,  the  Rescue,  to  rejoin  us ;  but, 
upon  reviewing  our  hurried  preparation  for  the  hard- 
ships of  the  winter,  he  determined,  with  characteristic 
forethought,  to  send  a  boat  party  to  the  settlement  of 
Lievely,  or  Godhavn,  on  the  neighboring  island  of 
Disco,  for  the  double  purpose  of  collecting  information 
and  purchasing  a  stock  of  furs.  The  execution  of 
this  duty  he  devolved  upon  me. 

We  started  on  the  27th,  Mr.  Lovell,  myself,  an  Es- 
quimaux pilot,  and  a  crew  of  five  men.  As  we  rowed 
along  the  narrow  channels  before  we  emerged  from 
this  rocky  group,  1  observed  for  the  first  time  that 
extreme  transparency  of  the  water  which  has  so  often 
been  alluded  to  by  autliors  as  characteristic  of  the  Po- 
lar Seas.  At  the  depth  of  ten  fathoms  every  feature 
of  the  bottom  was  distinctly  visible. 

Even  for  one  who  has  seen  the  crimson  dulses  and 
coral  groves  of  the  equatorial  zones,  this  arctic  growth 
had  its  rival  beauties.  Enormous  bottle-green  fronds 
were  waving  their  ungainly  lengths  above  a  labyrinth- 
ine jungle  of  snake-like  stems ;  and  far  down,  where 
the  claws  of  the  fucus  had  grappled  the  round  gneis- 
ses, great  glaring  lime  patches  shone  like  upset  white- 
wash upon  a  home  grassplot. 

It  was  a  rough  sail  outside.  The  bergs  were  nu- 
merous ;  and  the  heavy  sea  way  and  eddying  current, 
sweeping  like  a  mill-race  along  the  soutliein  face  of 
the  island,  made  us  barely  able  to  double  the  entrance 
to  the  little  harbor.  We  did  dou))le  it,  however,  and 
by  a  sudden  transition  found  ourselves  in  a  quiet  land- 
locked basin,  shadowed  by  wall-like  hills. 

Snow,  as  usual,  covered  the  lower  slopes ;  but,  cheer- 


308 


DISCO. 


y  V 


nr- 


fill  in  spite  of  its  cold  envelope,  rose  a  group  of  rude 
houses,  mottling  the  sky  with  the  comfortable  smoke 
of  their  huge  chinmeys.  Among  the  most  conspicu- 
ous of  these  was  one  antique  and  galjle  fronted,  with 
timbers  so  heavy  and  besmeared  with  tar,  that  it 
seemed  as  if  built  from  the  stranded  wreck  of  a  vessel. 
Little  nian-oC-war  port-holes,  recessed  into  its  wooden 
sides,  and  a  flag-staff,  as  tall  as  the  mast  of  a  jolly- 
boat,  gave  it  dignity.  This  was  the  house  of  the 
"  lloyal  Inspector  of  the  Northern  portions  of  Davis's 
Straits;"  whose  occupant — well  and  kindly  remem- 
bered l)y  all  of  us — no  less  than  the  royal  inspector 
himself,  stood  aw^aiting  our  landing. 

The  incumbent,  Mr.  Olrik,  was  an  accomplished  and 
hospitable  gentleman,  well  read  in  the  natural  sci- 
ences, and  an  acute  observer.  In  a  few  minutes  we 
Avere  seated  by  a  ponderous  stove,  and  in  a  few  more 
discussing  a  hot  Eider  duck  and  a  bottle  of  Latour. 

Upon  connnencing  my  negotiations  as  to  furs,  the 
object  of  my  journey,  I  learned  that  the  reindeer  do 
not  abound  on  the  island  of  Disco  as  in  the  days  of 
Crantz  and  Egedd;  though  to  the  south,  about  Bunke 
Land,  and  the  fiords  aroimd  Ilolsteinberg,  and  to  the 
north  of  the  Waigat,  they  are  still  very  numerous. 
Nevertheless,  by  drumming  up  the  resources  of  the 
settlement,  we  obtained  a  supply  of  second-hand  late 
swnmer  skins ;  and  with  these,  aided  by  the  seal,  soon 
fitted  out  a  wardrobe. 

Of  Disco,  save  its  Esquimaux  huts,  its  oil-house,  its 
smith-shop,  its  little  school,  and  its  gubernatorial  man- 
sion, I  can  say  but  little.  It  is  the  largest  circum- 
navigable  island  on  the  coast  of  Greenland.  Its  long 
diameter  is  from  the  northwest  to  southeast,  and  its 
eastern  edge  is  in  a  continuous  line  with  the  coast  to 


ise,  its 
1  man- 
"ircum- 
long 
incl  its 
last  to 


INSrKCTOKs'    liorSK,    I.IKVKI.Y. 


AMONIi   THE   I1ERG3. 


!,■■■  ■■!• 


"'^'  l: 


\ 


Am-H 


h^'' 


! 

■  i 

;•'.'  i 


^*W 


OKUUP  OF   SKALS. 


jj}.i.> 


' 


i* 


D 1 8  C  0 . 


371 


the  north  and  south.  It  is  rentlercd  insular  by  a  large 
strait,  called  the  Waigat,  which  inosculates  with  the 
hay. 

So  much  for  Disco.  Paul  Zachareus,  long-haired, 
swarthy.  Christian  Paul,  said  that  the  wind  was  fair: 
Lovell,  like  a  good  sailor,  exercised  his  authority  over 
the  doctor:  the  furs  were  packed,  my  sketches  and 
wet  hortus  siccus  properly  combined,  and  we  started 
again  for  our  little  brig. 

We  left  the  Whale-fish  Islands  on  the  29th,  in  com- 
pany with  the  Rescue.  On  the  30th  we  doubled  the 
southwest  cape  of  Disco,  and  stood  to  the  northward, 
through  a  crowd  of  noble  icebergs.  On  the  first  of 
July,  early  in  the  morning,  we  encountered  our  first 
field-ice.  From  this  date  really  commenced  the  char- 
acteristic voyaging  of  a  Polar  cruise. 


V-fv.;  &., 

m  ■ 


I 

il 


F"l 


/«        ''1  f 


f  tr:^ 


M 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  EXPEDITION. 

(continued.)  ' 

"Jul//  1.  This  morning  was  called  on  deck  at  4  A.M. 
by  our  commander. 

"  About  two  hundred  yards  to  the  windward,  form- 
ing a  lee-shore,  was  a  vast  plane  of  undulating  ice,  in 
nowise  diflering  from  that  which  we  see  in  the  Dela- 
ware when  mid-winter  is  contending  witli  the  ice- 
boats. There  was  the  same  crackling,  and  grinding, 
and  splashing,  but  the  indefinite  extent — an  ocean  in- 
stead of  a  river — multiplied  it  to  a  din  unspeakable; 
and  w'ith  it  came  a  strange  imdertone  accompaniment, 
a  not  discordant  drone.  This  was  the  iloe  ice ;  per- 
haps a  tongue  from  the  '  Great  Pack,'  through  which 
we  are  now  every  day  expecting  to  force  our  way.  A 
great  number  of  bergs,  of  shapes  the  most  simple  and 
most  complicated,  of  colors  blue,  white,  and  eartli- 
stained,  were  tangled  in  this  floating  field.  Such, 
however,  was  the  inertia  of  the  huge  masses,  that  the 
sheet  ice  piled  itself  up  about  them  as  on  fixed  rocks. 

"  The  sea  immediately  around,  saving  the  ground- 
swell,  was  smooth  as  a  mill-pond ;  but  it  was  studded 
over  with  dark,  protruding  little  globules,  about  the 
size  of  hens'  eggs,  producing  an  effect  like  the  dimples 
of  so  many  overgrown  rain-drops  fallen  on  the  water. 
These,  as  I  afterward  found,  were  rounded  fragments 
of  transparent  and  fresh-water  ice,  the  debris  and  de- 

(372) 


luont, 
per- 
wliicli 
.    A 
ami 
tirtli- 
SiK'h, 
at  the 
ocks. 
ound- 
udded 
it  the 
mples 
water, 
raents 
1(1  de- 


li.. 


ft  :>}  I 


I 


fVL 


-  'i> 


••  '-'id' 
"I  ■  '"■''  '^  j 


i  'im\ 


i 
r 

fl^HHI 

hi.f 

1 

f . 

t! 

s 

i 

1 

i 

1^,    i^ 

1, 1 

p 

'  ■''''^' 

i  !! 

r  ■ 

*  ■&  i 


i9i 


r   ? 


OMENAK    S     FIORD. 


375 


tritus  of  the  bergs.  We  sailed  along  this  field  about 
ten  miles. 

"  At  9  P.  M.  the  fogs  settled  around  us,  and  we  en- 
tered again  upon  an  area  full  of  floating  masses  of 
berg.  As  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  them,  they  gave 
us  some  heavy  thumps. 

"At  11  we  cleared  the  floes,  and, favored  with  a  free 
wind,  found  ourselves  nearly  opposite  Omenak's  Fiord, 
a  noted  seat  of  iceberg  growth  and  distribution." 

How  far  we  were  from  land  I  could  not  tell ;  but 
we  saw  distinctly  the  configuration  of  the  hills  and 
the  deep  recesses  of  the  fiord.  The  sun,  although 
nearing  midnight,  was  five  degrees  above  the  horizon, 
and  threw  its  rich  colorino;  over  the  snow.  Manv 
large  bergs  were  moving  in  procession  from  the  fiord, 
those  in  the  foreground  in  full  sunshine,  those  in  the 
distance  obscured  by  the  shadow  of  their  parent  hills. 

Omenak's  Fiord,  known  as  Jacob's  Bight,  is  one  of 
the  largest  of  those  strange  clefts,  which,  penetrating 
the  mountain  range  at  right  angles  to  its  long  axis, 
form  so  majestic  a  feature  of  Greenland  scenery.  Its 
inland  termination  has  never  been  reached  ;  and  it  is 
supposed  by  Scoresby  to  be  continuous  witii  the  large 
sounds,  which  on  a  corresponding  parallel  (70°  40') 
enter  from  the  eastern  coast. 

It  is  up  this  fiord,  probably  in  the  chasms  of  the 
trap,  that  those  enormous  glaciers  accumulate  which 
have  made  Jacob's  Bight,  perhaps,  the  most  remarka- 
ble locality  in  the  genesis  of  icebergs  on  the  face  of 
the  globe.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  have  the  shore  here 
completely  blocked  in  by  these  gigantic  monsters :  I 
myself  counted  in  one  evening,  the  3d  of  July,  no  less 
than  two  hundred  and  forty  of  primary  magnitude, 
from  the  decks  of  our  vessel. 


vi  .   '■ 


,u^' 


•m 

■  r; 

f. 

.f^. 

\ 

.«» 

\K--;^- 

,  ( 

■  r^." 

■•'i  ■■ ' 

'V -■ 

,. 

,>* 

,  '-.'■■■ ' 
"   1 

'■?' .." 

-H 

■    !l    ■       ■■     IM   .     If 


376 


FORMATION     OP     ICEBERGS. 


The  glaciers  which  abut  upon  this  sound  are  prob- 
ably offsets  from  an  interior  mer  de  glace.  The  val- 
leys or  canals  which  conduct  these  offsets  were  de- 
scribed to  me  as  singularly  rectilinear  and  uniform  in 
diameter,  a  fact  which  derives  ready  confirmation  from 
the  known  confiji^uration  of  a  dioritic  country.  Now 
the  protrusion  of  these  abutting  faces  into  the  waters 
of  the  sound  has  been  a  subject  of  observation  among 
both  Danes  and  Esquimaux.  Places  about  Jacob's 
Harbor,  remembered  as  the  former  seats  of  habitation, 
are  now  overrun  by  glaciers ;  and  Mr.  Olrik  told  me 
of  a  naked  escarpment  of  ice,  twelve  hundred  feet 
high,  which  he  had  seen  protruding  nearly  half  a  mile 
into  the  sea. 

The  materials  thus  afforded  in  redundant  profusion 
are  rapidly  converted  into  icebergs.  The  water  at  the 
bases  of  these  cliffs  is  very  deep — I  have  in  my  note- 
book well-established  instances  of  three  hundred  fath- 
oms ;  and  the  pyramidal  structure  of  the  trap  is  such 
as  to  favor  a  precipitous  coast  line.  The  glacier,  thus 
exposed  to  a  saline  water  base  of  a  temperature  above 
the  freezing  point,  and  to  an  undermining  wave  ac- 
tion, aided  by  tides  and  winds,  is  of  course  speedily 
detached  by  its  own  gravitation. 

Jull/  2.  The  next  day  we  passed  this  fiord  and  stood 
on  our  course  beyond  an  imposing  headland,  known 
on  the  charts  as  Cape  Cranstown,  tlirough  a  sea  un- 
obstructed by  floe  ice,  but  abounding  in  bergs. 

In  the  afternoon  the  wind  subsided  into  a  mere 
cat's-paw,  and  we  were  enabled  to  visit  several  of  the 
icebergs.  Certain  it  is  that  no  objects  ever  impressed 
me  more.  There  was  something  about  them  so  slum- 
berous and  so  pure,  so  massive  yet  so  evanescent,  so 
majestic  in  their  cheerless  beauty,  without,  after  all, 


"i»«'i''! 


ICEBERG     SCENERY. 


377 


any  of  the  salient  points  which  give  character  to  de- 
scription, that  they  ahnost  seemed  to  me  the  mate- 
rial for  a  dream,  rather  than  things  to  be  definitely 
painted  in  words. 

The  first  that  we  approached  was  entirely  inaccess- 
ible. Our  commander,  in  whose  estimates  of  distance 
and  magnitude  I  have  great  confidence,  made  it  nearly 
a  mile  in  circumference. 

The  next  was  a  monster  ice  mountain,  at  least  two 
hundred  feet  high,  irregularly  polyliedral  in  shape, 
and  its  surface  diversified  with  hill  and  dale.  Upon 
this  one  we  landed.  I  had  never  appreciated  before 
the  glorious  variety  of  iceberg  scenery.  The  sea  at 
the  base  of  this  berg  was  dashing  into  hollow  caves 
of  })ure  and  intense  ultramarine ;  and  to  leeward  the 
quiet  water  lit  the  eye  down  to  a  long,  spindle-shaped 
root  of  milky  whiteness,  which  seemed  to  dye  the  sea 
as  it  descended,  until  the  blue  and  white  wei  e  mixed 
in  a  pale  turkois.  Above,  and  high  enough  to  give 
an  expression  akin  to  sublimity,  were  bristling  crags. 

The  general  color  of  a  berg  I  have  before  compared 
to  frosted  silver.  But  when  its  fractures  are  very  ex- 
tensive, the  exposed  ftices  have  a  very  brilliant  lustre. 
Nothing  can  be  more  exquisite  than  a  fresh,  cleanly- 
fractured  berg  surface. 

Voyagers  speak  of  the  effects  of  Arctic  refraction  in 
language  as  exact  and  mathematical  as  their  own  cor- 
rection tables.  It  almost  seems  as  if  their  minute  ob- 
servations of  dip-sectors  and  repeating-circles  had  left 
them  no  scope  for  picturesque  sublimity.  This  may 
excuse  a  literal  transcript  from  my  diary,  which  runs 
perhaps  into  the  other  extreme. 

"  Friday,  11  P.  M.  A  strip  of  horizon,  commencing 
about  8°  to  the  east  of  the  sun,  and  between  it  and 


...^1^': 


,?3*' 


i*^,| 


I 


wmm. 


m 

«'  . 

n^ 

\t 

^ 

m 

\m 

iw^^^^HU 

r* 

m 

pHli 

f iff  * ' 

378 


WONDERS     OF    REFRACTION. 


i»  -^ 


'      '4 'I 


the  land,  resembled  an  extended  plain,  covered  with 
the  debris  of  ruined  cities.  No  ellort  of  imagination 
was  necessary  for  me  to  travel  from  the  true  watery 
horizon  to  the  false  one  of  refraction  above  it,  and 
there  to  see  huge  structures  lining  an  aerial  ocean- 
margin.  Some  of  rusty,  Egyptian,  rubbish-clogixed 
propyla,  and  hypa^thral  courts — some  tapering  and 
columnar,  like  Palmyra  and  Baalbec  —  some  with 
architrave  and  portico,  like  Telmessus  or  Athens,  or 
else  vague  and  grotto-like,  such  as  dreamy  memories 
recalled  of  Ellora  and  Carli. 

"  I  can  hardly  realize  it  as  I  write ;  but  it  was  no 
trick  of  fancy.  The  things  were  there  half  an  hour 
ago.  I  saw  them,  capricious,  versatile,  full  oi'  forms, 
but  bright  and  definite  as  the  phases  of  sober  life. 
And  as  my  eyes  ran  round  upon  the  marvelous  and 
varying  scene,  every  one  of  these  well-remembered 
cities  rose  before  me,  built  up  by  some  suggestive  feat- 
ure of  the  ice. 

"  An  iceberg  is  one  of  God's  own  buildings,  preach- 
ing its  lessons  of  humility  to  the  miniature  structures 
of  man.  Its  material,  one  colossal  Pentelicus;  its  mass, 
the  representative  of  power  in  repose ;  its  distribution, 
simulating  every  architectural  type.  It  makes  one 
smile  at  those  classical  remnants  which  our  own  pe- 
riod reproduces  in  its  Madeleines,  Walhallas,  and  Gi- 
rard  colleges,  like  university  poems  in  the  dead  lan- 
guages. Still,  we  can  compare  them  with  the  iceberg; 
for  the  same  standard  measures  both,  as  it  does  Cliim- 
borazo  and  the  Hill  of  Howth.  But  this  thing  of  re- 
fraction is  supernatural  throughout.  The  wildest  Irolic 
of  an  opium-eater  s  revery  is  nothing  to  the  phantas- 
magoria of  the  sky  to-night.  Karnaks  of  ice,  turned 
upside  down,  were  resting  upon  rainbow-colored  ped- 


•  i 


OFF     UPERNAVIK. 


379 


estals:  great  needles,  obelisks  of  pure  whiteness,  shot 
up  above  tlieir  false  horizons,  and,  after  an  hour-glass- 
like contraction  at  their  point  of  union  with  their  du- 
plicated images,  lost  themselves  in  the  blue  of  the 
upper  sky.  ** 

"  While  I  was  looking — the  sextant  useless  in  my 
hand,  for  I  could  not  think  of  angles — a  blurred  and 
wavy  change  came  over  the  fantastic  picture.  Pris- 
matic tin  tings,  too  vague  to  admit  of  dioptric  analysis, 
began  to  margin  my  architectural  marbles,  and  the 
scene  faded  like  one  of  Fresnefs  dissolving  views. 
Suddenly,  by  a  flash,  they  reappeared  in  full  beauty ; 
and,  just  as  I  was  beginning  to  note  in  my  memo- 
randum-book the  changes  which  this  brief  interval 
had  produced,they  went  out  entirely,  and  left  a  nearly 
clear  hori/.on." 

The  Gth  of  July  found  us  in  latitude  72°  54',  beatr 
ing  to  windward,  as  usual,  between  "  the  pack "  and 
the  land.  This  land  was  of  some  interest  to  us,  for 
we  were  now  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Danish  set- 
tlement of  Upernavik. 

With  the  exception  of  one  subordinate  station,  eight- 
een miles  further  to  the  north,  this  is  the  last  of  the 
Danish  settlements.  It  is  the  jumping-ofi"  place  of  Arc- 
tic navigators — our  last  point  of  communication  with 
the  outside  world.  Here  the  British  explorers  put  the 
date  to  their  official  reports,  and  send  home  their  last 
letters  of  good-by.  We  sent  ours  without  the  delay 
of  seeking  the  little  port;  for  a  couple  of  kayacks 
boarded  us  twenty  miles  out  to  sea,  and  for  a  few  bis- 
cuits gladly  took  charge  of  our  dispatches.  The  hon- 
esty of  these  poor  Esquimaux  is  proverbial.  Letters 
committed  to  their  care  are  delivered  with  unerring 
safety  to  the  superintendent  of  the  port  or  station.   , 


■^  ' 


■-••) 


y 


m    ~ 


,t 


ii 


ti 


I    •■■*. 


■i 


380 


FAST    IN     THE     ICE. 


We  were  boarded,  too,  by  an  oomiak,  or  woman's 
boat,  returning  from  a  successful  seal  hunt.  From 
the  crew,  consisting  of  three  women  and  four  men, 
we  purchased  a  goodly  stock  of  eider  eggs  and  three 
young  seals. 

July  7.  We  had  now  passed  the  seventy-third  de- 
gree of  latitude  without  being  materially  retarded  by 
ice.  The  weather  was  one  unbroken  sunshine,  and 
worthier  of  the  Bay  of  Naples  than  Baffin's.  The 
coast  on  our  right  hand  consisted  of  low  islands,  so 
grouped  as  to  resemble  continuous  land.  To  our  lelt 
was  a  coast  of  a  different  character — the  ice. 

On  the  morning  of  the  7th,  a  large  vacant  sheet  of 
water  showed  itself  to  the  westward,,  penetrating  the 
ice  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach ;  and  from  the  top- 
mast-head we  could  see  the  southern  margin  of  tliis 
ice  losing  itself  in  a  clear,  watery  h()ri;:on.  It  was  a 
strong  temptation.  Our  conunandor  determined  to 
try  for  a  passage  through. 

"  We  now  entered  fairly  the  so-tliought  open  water, 
keeping  the  shore  on  our  starboard  beam,  and  steering 
for  the  northeast  and  north,  at  a  rate  of  six  knots, 
through  an  apparently  unobstructed  sea.  But  the 
sanguine  anticipations  of  our  commander  were  soon 
to  be  moderated.  By  four  in  the  afternoon,  after  phir- 
ing  at  least  fifty  miles  between  us  and  the  coast,  thi> 
leads  began  to  close  around  us.  Fearing  a  separation 
from  the  Rescue,  we  took  her  in  tow  and  contiiuicd 
our  efforts ;  but  from  5  P.  M.  until  the  termination  of 
the  d.'iy,  our  progress  was  absolutely  nothing.  The 
morning  of  the  8th  opened  upon  us  fast  in  summer 
ice. 

"  July  9.  Although  we  commenced  bright  and  early 
to  warp  our  way  through  the  impacted  ice,  we  found, 


^vatcr, 

tccring 
laiots, 

lut  the 

1-0  soon 
iY  plao- 
ist,  til'' 

la  ration 

litinucil 

Ition  of 

The 

kumnicr 

|d  early 
found, 


"TKAtKINO. 


^.li!~>.--=" 


^■•^^■ 


KAYACKS. 


OOMIAK,  OR   WOMAN'S   UOAT. 


m*   ■ 


> 

-m 

f 

rll 

%. 

;4I 

.iiyif 

L^aSi 

p 

S( 

k 

sc 
a 
sv 
in 

t« 
an 
ab 
111 

ice 
th 
tal 
sta 

ani 

CM 


wo 
Th 
are 
Pre 
ma 
the 
brii 
ban 


ARCTIC     NAVIGATION. 


383 


after  much  labor,  tliat  the  entire  day's  reward  wa'« 
about  three  miles.  We  are  now  again  fast,  completely 
<l)osct,'  and  only  waiting  to  rest  the  crew  before  we 
renew  our  efforts." 

What  these  efforts  were  it  may  be  as  well  to  ex- 
plain, for  the  benefit  of  fireside  navigators,  and  perhaps 
some  others.  Those  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships 
know  that  it  is  easy  enough  to  drive  along  in  a  clear 
sea  on  a  free  wind,  or  to  haul  into  dock,  or  to  warp  up 
a  quiet  river,  butting  aside  the  lazy  vessels  as  they 
swing  at  anchor.  How  do  we  sail,  and  haul,  and  warp 
in  these  Arctic  Seas ! 

Let  us  begin  by  imagining  a  vessel,  or,  for  variety, 
two  of  them,  speeding  along  at  eight  knots  an  hour, 
and  heading  directly  for  a  long,  low  margin  of  ice 
about  two  miles  off  "D'ye  see  any  opening?"  cries 
Ihc  captain,  hailing  an  officer  on  the  fore  topsail-yard. 
*'  Something  like  '  a  lead '  a  little  to  leeward  of  that 
iceberg  on  our  port-bow."  In  a  little  while  Ave  near 
the  ice ;  our  liglit  sails  are  got  in,  our  commander 
taking  the  place  of  the  ofhcer,  who  has  resumed  his 
station  on  the  dock. 

Before  you,  in  a  plain  of  solid  ice,  is  a  huge  iceberg, 
and  near  it  a  black,  zigzag  canal,  checkered  with  re- 
cent fragments. 

Now  commences  the  process  of  "conning."  Such 
work  with  the  helm  is  not  often  seen  in  ordinary  seas. 
The  brig's  head  is  pointed  for  the  open  gap ;  the  watch 
are  stationed  at  the  braces ;  a  sort  of  silence  prevails. 
Presently  comes  down  the  stentorian  voice  of  our  com- 
mander, "  Ilard-a-starboard,"  and  at  the  same  moment 
the  yards  yield  to  the  ready  haul  at  the  braces.  The 
brig  turns  her  nose  into  a  sudden  indentation,  and 
bangs  her  quarter  against  a  big  lump  of  "  swashing  " 


It':'  Vi 


m 


,.  !..ri'. 


lili 


h\ 


384 


ARCTIC     NAVIGATION. 


ice.  "  Steady  there !  "  For  half  a  minute  not  a  sound, 
until  a  second  yell — "Down, down!  hard  down!"  and 
then  we  rub,  and  scrape,  and  jam,  and  thrust  aside, 
and  are  thrust  aside  ;  but  .somehow  or  other  find  our- 
selves in  an  open  canal,  losing  itself  in  the  distance. 
This  is  "a  lead." 

As  we  move  on,  congratulating  ourselves — if  we 
think  about  the  thing  at  all — that  we  are  "  good  "  for 
a  few  hundred  yards  more,  a  sudden  exclamation,  ad- 
dressed to  nobody,  but  sufficiently  distinctive,  comes 
from  the  yard-arm  (we'll  call  it  "pshaw! "),  and,  look- 
ing ahead,  we  see  that  our  "  lead  "  is  getting  narrower, 
its  sides  edging  toward  each  other — it  is  losing  its 
straightness.  At  the  same  moment  comes  a  compli- 
cated succession  of  orders  :  "  Ilelm-a-starboard ! " 
"Port!"  "Easy!"  "So!"  "Steadie-ee-ee !"  "Ilard- 
o-port!"  " Hard, hard, hard !  "  (scrape,  scratch,  thump!) 
"Eugh!"  an  anomalous  grunt,  and  we  are  jammed 
fast  between  two  great  ice-fields  of  unknown  extent. 
The  captain  comes  down,  and  we  all  go  quietly  to 
supper. 

Next  come  some  processes  unconnected  with  the 
sails,  our  wings.  These  will  explain,  after  Arctic 
fashion,  the  terms  "  heave,"  and  "  warp,"  and  "  track," 
and  "  haul,"  for  we  are  now  beset  in  ice,  and  what  lit- 
tle wind  we  have  is  dead  ahead.  A  couple  of  hands, 
under  orders,  of  course,  seize  an  iron  hook  or  "  ice-an- 
chor," of  which  we  have  two  sizes,  one  of  forty,  and 
another  of  about  a  hundred  pounds.  With  this  they 
jump  from  the  bows,  and  ''  plant  it "  in  the  ice  ahead, 
close  to  the  edge  of  the  crack,  along  which  we  wish 
to  force  our  way.  Once  fast,  you  slip  a  hawser  around 
its  smaller  end,  and  secure  it  from  slips  by  a  "  mous- 
ing" of  rope-yarn.     The  slack  of  the  hawser  is  passed 


HEAVING     AND     WARPING. 


385 


around  the  shaft  of  our  patent  winch — an  apparatus 
of  cogs  and  levers  standing  in  our  bows — and  every 
tiling,  in  far  less  time  than  it  has  taken  me  to  describe 
it,  is  ready  for  "  lieaving." 

Then  comes  the  hard  work.  The  hawser  is  hauled 
taut;  the  strain  is  increased ;  every  body,  captain,  cook, 
steward,  and  doctor,  is  taking  a  spell  at  the  "  |)uinp 
handles"  or  overhauling  the  warping  gear ;  for  dignity 
does  not  take  care  of  its  hands  in  the  middle  pack ; 
until  at  last,  if  the  floes  be  not  too  obdurate,  they 
separate  by  the  wedge  action  of  our  bows,  and  we 
force  our  way  into  a  little  cleft,  which  is  kept  open  on 
either  side  by  the  vessel's  beam.  But  the  quiescence, 
the  equilibrium  of  the  ice,  which  allows  it  to  bo  thus 
severed  at  its  line  of  junction,  is  rare  enough.  Often- 
times we  heave,  and  haul,  and  sweat,  and,  after  parting 
a  ten-inch  hawser,  go  to  bed  wet,  and  tired,  and  dis- 
contented, with  nothing  but  experience  to  pay  for  our 
toil.     This  is  "warping." 

But  let  us  suppose  that,  after  many  hours  of  this 
sort  of  unprofitable  labor,  the  floes  release  their  press- 
ure, or  the  ice  becomes  frail  and  light.  "  Get  ready 
the  lines !  "  Out  jumps  an  unfortunate  with  a  forty- 
pound  "  hook  "  upon  his  shoulder,  and,  after  one  or  two 
duckings,  tumbles  over  the  ice  and  plants  his  anchor 
on  a  distant  cape,  in  line  with  our  wished-for  direction. 
The  poor  fellow  has  done  more  than  carry  his  anchor ; 
for  a  long  white  cord  has  been  securely  fastened  to  it, 
which  they  "payout"  from  aboard  ship  as  occasion 
requires.  It  passes  inboard  through  a  block,  and  then, 
with  a  few  artist''^  turns,  around  the  capstan.  Its 
'slack"  or  loose  x  j  carried  to  a  little  windlass  at 
our  main-mast.     Now  comes  the  warping  again.     The 

first  or  heavy  warping  we  called  "  heaving : "  this  last 

^3 


'"'[ 


't 


H0 


ii 


'ir^n 


886 


PROSPECT    OP     ESCAPE. 


is  a  civilized  performance;  "all  hands"  walking  round 
with  the  capstan-bars  to  the  click  of  its  iron  paiils,  or 
else,  if  the  watch  be  fresh,  to  a  jolly  chorus  of  sailors' 
songs. 

We  have  made  a  few  hundred  yards  of  this  light 
warping,  when  the  floes,  never  at  rest,  open  into  a  tort- 
uous canal  again.  We  can  dispense  with  the  slow 
traction  of  the  capstan.  The  same  whale-line  is 
passed  out  ahead,  and  a  party  of  human  horses  take 
us  in  tow.  Each  man — or  horse,  if  you  please — has 
a  canvas  strap  passing  over  his  shoulder  and  fastened 
to  the  tow-line ;  or,  nautically,  ns  this  is  a  chapter  ex- 
planatory of  terms,  "  toggled  to  the  warp."  This  har- 
nessing is  no  slight  comfort  to  hands  wet  with  water 
at  the  freezing  point ;  and  with  its  aid  they  tug  along, 
sometimes  at  a  weary  walk,  and  sometimes  at  a  dog- 
trot.    This  is  "  tracking." 

When  we  could  neither  "heave,"  nor  "warp,"  nor 
"  track,"  nor  sail,  we  resorted  to  all  sorts  of  useless  ex- 
pedients, such  as  sawing,  cutting,  and  vainly  striving 
to  force  our  way  into  a  more  hopeful  neighborhood. 
It  was  long  before  experience  taught  us  to  spare  our- 
selves this  useless  labor. 

We  had  been  three  weeks  completely  imprisoned, 
and  the  season  for  useful  search  was  rapidly  flitting 
by,  when,  on  the  27th  of  July,  came  the  dawning 
promise  of  escape. 

A  steady  breeze  had  been  blowing  for  several 
from  the  northward  and  westward,  and  under  it 
fluence  the  ice  had  so  relaxed,  that,  had  not  the  wnid 
been  dead  ahead,  we  should  have  attemped  sails. 
Our  floe  surface,  distui^bed  bj  these  new  influences 
gave  us  a  constantly-shifting  topography.  It  was  cu- 
rious to  see  the  rapidity  of  the  transformations.    At 


BORINO. 


387 


one  moment  we  were  closed  in  by  ice  three  feet  thick, 
with  a  worn-down  berg  fifty  feei<  deep  on  our  beam ; 
our  bows  buried  in  hummocky  masses,  and  our  stern- 
post  clogged  with  frozen  sludge :  in  ten  minutes  open 
lanes  were  radiating  from  us  in  every  direction,  cracks 
becoming  rivers,  and  puddles  lakes :  warping  ahead 
for  five  minutes,  every  thing  around  us  was  ice  again. 

But  changes  were  going  on.  The  sky  had  become 
lowering,  the  gulls  had  left  us,  and  the  barometer  had 
fallen  eight  tenths  since  the  day  before. 

Late  on  the  afternoon  of  the  28th,  after  another  long 
day  of  unprofitable  warping,  the  wind  shifted  to  the 
eastward.  The  floes  opened  still  wider,  something 
like  water  was  visible  to  the  north  and  east,  and  at  9h. 
30m.  P.M.  we  "  cast  off,"  set  our  main-sail,  and,  with 
feelings  of  joyous  relief,  began  to  bore  the  ice.  This 
wind  soon  freshened  to  a  southeaster,  and  we  dashed 
along  to  the  northeast  in  a  sea  studded  with  icebergs. 
Broken  floes  running  out  into  "  streams"  were  on  all 
sides  of  us ;  but,  only  too  glad  to  be  once  more  free,  we 
bored  through  them  for  the  inshore  circuit  of  Mehille 
Bay. 

After  a  little  while  the  horizon  thickened ;  and  al- 
though  our  wind,  surrounded  as  we  were  by  ice,  could 
hardly  be  called  a  gale,  heavy  undulations  began  to 
set  in,  making  an  uncomfortable  sea,  rendered  danger- 
0"    .iideed  by  the  swashing  ice  and  a  growing  fog. 

I'he  ice,  too,  after  a  little  while,  was  no  longer  the 
en,  half-thawed  material  of  the  middle  pack,  but 
iicavy  floes  eight  or  ten  feet  of  solid  thickness,  which 
seemed  to  stand  out  from  the  shore. 

Presently  we  found  ourselves,  urged  by  wind  and 
sea,  on  a  ]<  ridge  of  undulating  fragments.  There 
was  no  hp^     jr  it :  with  grinding  crash  we  entered  its 


;>>■ 


1.,^^  JjJ, 


mi 


■Mil 


W^' 


I 


388 


MELVILLE    BAY. 


i   '  "  t 


tumultuous  margin.  Before  we  had  bored  into  it  more 
than  ten  yards,  we  were  on  the  edge  of  a  nearly  sub- 
merged iceberg,  which,  not  being  large  enough  to  re- 
sist the  swell,  rolled  fearfully.  The  sea  dashed  in  an 
angry  surf  over  its  inclined  sides,  rattling  the  icy  frag, 
ments  or  "  brash"  against  its  irregular  surface.  Our 
position  reminded  me  of  the  scenes  so  well  described 
by  Beechy  in  the  voyage  of  the  Dorothea  and  Trent. 
For  a  time  we  were  awkwardly  placed,  but  we  bored 
through ;  and  the  Rescue,  after  skirting  the  same  ob- 
struction, managed  also  to  get  through  without  damage. 

We  continued  to  run  along  with  our  top-sail  yard 
on  the  cap,  but  the  growing  fog  made  it  impossible  to 
keep  on  our  course  very  long.  After  several  encoun- 
ters  with  the  floating  hummocks,  we  succeeded  in  ty- 
ing fast  to  a  heavy  floe,  which  se  "med  to  be  connected 
with  the  land,  and  were  thus  moored  within  that  mys- 
terious circuit  known  as  Melville  Bay. 

It  is  during  the  transit  of  this  bay  that  most  of 
the  catastrophes  occur  which  have  made  the  statistics 
of  the  whalers  so  fearful.  It  was  here,  about  twenty 
miles  to  the  south  of  us,  that  in  one  year  more  than 
one  thousand  human  beings  were  cast  shelterless  upon 
the  ice,  their  ships  ground  up  before  their  eyes.  It  is 
rarely  that  a  season  goes  by  in  which  the  passage  is 
attempted  without  disaster. 

The  inshore  side  of  the  indentation  is  lined  by  a 
sweep  of  glacier,  through  which  here  and  there  the 
dark  headlands  of  the  coast  force  themselves  with  se- 
vere contrast.  Outside  of  this,  the  shore,  if  we  can 
c'j,ll  it  such,  is  again  lined  with  a  heavy  ledge  of 
ground  ice,  thicker  and  more  permanent  than  that  in 
motion.  This  extends  out  for  miles,  forming  an  icy 
margin  or  beach,  known  technically  as  the  "  land  ice," 


BERGS. 


389 


or  "  the  fast."  Against  this  margin,  the  great  "  drift" 
through  which  we  had  been  passing  exerts  a  remitting 
action,  receding  sometimes  under  the  influence  of  wind 
and  currents  so  as  to  open  a  tortuous  and  uncertain 
canal  along  its  edge,  at  others  closing  against  it  in  a 
barrier  of  contending  floes  and  bergs. 

Our  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  this  region  was 
ominous  enough.  It  blew  a  gale.  The  offing  was  a 
scene  of  noisy  contention,  obscured  by  a  dense  fog, 
through  which  rose  the  tops  of  the  icebergs  as  they 
drifted  by  us.  Twice  in  the  night  we  were  called  up 
to  escape  these  bergs  by  warping  out  of  their  path. 
Imagine  a  mass  as  large  as  the  Parthenon  bearing 
down  upon  you  before  a  storm- wind ! 

The  immediate  site  of  our  anchorage  was  about 
eighteen  miles  from  the  Black  Hills,  which  rose  above 
the  glacier.  It  was  truly  an  iron-bound  coast,  bergs, 
floes,  and  hummock  ridges,  in  all  the  disarray  of  win- 
tery  conflict,  cemented  in  a  basis  of  ice  ten  feet  thick, 
and  lashed  by  an  angry  sea.  It  was  the  first  time  I 
had  witnessed  the  stupendous  results  of  ice  action.  I 
went  out  with  Captain  De  Haven  to  observe  them 
more  closely.  The  hummocks  had  piled  themselves 
at  the  edges  of  the  floes  in  a  set  of  rugged  walls,  some- 
times twenty  feet  high ;  and  here  and  there  were  ice- 
bergs firmly  incorporated  in  the  vast  plain.  Ovir  at- 
tention was  of  course  directed  more  anxiously  to  those 
which  were  drifting  at  large  upon  the  open  water ;  but 
we  could  not  help  being  impressed  by  the  solid  majes- 
ty of  these  stationary  mountains.  The  height  of  one 
of  them,  measured  by  the  sextant,  was  two  hundred 
and  forty  feet. 

It  was  the  motion  of  the  floating  bergs  that  sur- 
rounded us  at  this  time,  which  first  gave  me  the  idea 


.0^1 


« t.' 


f  1 "'  i  ? 


:  « 


390 


A    RACE. 


of  a  great  under-current  to  the  northward.  Their  drift 
followed  some  system  of  advance  entirely  independent 
of  the  wind,  and  not  apparently  at  variance  with  the 
received  views  of  a  great  southern  current.  On  the 
night  of  the  30th,  while  the  surface  ice  or  floe  was 
drifting  to  the  southward  with  the  wind,  the  bergs 
were  making  a  northern  progress,  crushing  through 
the  floes  in  the  very  eye  of  tha  breeze  at  a  measured 
rate  of  a  mile  and  a  half  an  hour.  The  disproportion 
that  uniformly  subsists  bet\/een  the  submerged  and 
upper  masses  of  a  floating  berg  makes  it  a  good  index 
of  the  deep  sea  current,  especially  when  its  movement 
is  against  the  wind.  I  noticed  very  many  ice-mount- 
ains  traveling  to  the  north  in  opposition  to  both  wind 
and  surface  ice.  One  of  them  we  recognized  five  days 
afterward,  nearly  a  hundred  miles  on  its  northern 
journey. 

In  the  so-called  night,  "all  hands"  were  turned  to, 
and  the  old  system  of  warping  was  renewed.  The 
unyielding  ice  made  it  a  slow  process,  but  enough 
was  gained  to  give  us  an  entrance  to  some  clear  wa- 
ter about  a  mile  in  apparent  length.  While  we  were 
warping,  one  of  these  current-driven  bergs  kept  us 
constant  company,  and  at  one  time  it  was  a  regular 
race  between  us,  for  the  narrow  passage  we  were 
striving  to  reach  would  have  been  completely  barri- 
caded if  our  icy  opponent  had  got  ahead. 

This  exciting  race,  against  wind  and  drift,  and  with 
the  Rescue  in  tow,  was  at  its  height  when  we  reached 
a  point  where,  by  warping  around  our  opponent,  we 
might  be  able  to  make  sail.  Three  active  men  were 
instantly  dispatched  to  prepare  the  warps.  One  took 
charge  of  the  hawser,  and  another  of  the  iron  crow  or 
chisel  which  is  used  to  cut  the  hole;  the  third,  a 


OUIl     PROSPECTS. 


391 


brawny  seaman,  named  Costa,  was  in  the  act  of  lift- 
ing the  anchor  and  driving  it  by  main  force  into  the 
soUd  ice,  when,  with  a  roar  like  near  thunder,  a  crack 
ran  across  the  berg,  and  almost  instantly  a  segment 
about  twice  the  size  of  our  ship  was  severed  from  the 
rest.  One  man  remained  oscillating  on  the  principal 
mass,  a  second  escaped  by  jumping  to  the  back  ropes 
and  chain  shrouds  of  the  bowsprit ;  but  poor  Costa ! 
anchor  and  all,  disappeared  in  the  chasm !  By  a  mer- 
ciful  Godsend,  the  sunken  fragment  had  broken  oiF 
so  cleanly  that,  when  it  rose,  it  scraped  against  the 
fractured  surface,  and  brought  lip  its  living  freight 
along  with  it.  Scared  half  to  death,  he  was  caught 
by  the  captain  as  he  passed  the  jib-boom,  and  brought 
safe  on  board.  This  incident,  coming  thus  early  in 
our  cruise,  was  a  useful  warning. 

^'^  Ay  gust  2.  *  Warping !'  Tired  of  the  very  word ! 
About  2  P.M.  a  lead,  less  obstructed  than  its  fellows, 
enabled  us  to  crowd  on  the  canvas,  and  sail  with  gen- 
tle airs  for  about  two  miles  to  the  eastward,  and  then, 
losing  what  little  wind  we  had,  we  tied  up  again  to 
our  friend  the  land  ice ;  the  little  Rescue,  as  usual,  a 
few  yards  astern. 

"We  have  learned  to  love  the  sunshine,  though  we 
have  lost  the  night  that  gives  it  value  to  others.  It 
coines  back  to  us  this  evening,  after  the  gale,  with  a 
circuit  of  sparkling  and  imaginative  beauty,  like  the 
spangled  petticoat  of  a  ballet-dancer  in  full  twirl  to  a 
boy  on  his  first  visit  to  the  opera.  I  borrow  the  com- 
parison from  one  of  my  mess-mates;  but,  in  truth,  all 
this  about  sunshine  and  warmth  is  only  compara- 
tive at  the  best,  for,  though  writing  on  deck,  *  out  of 
doors,'  as  they  say  at  home,  the  thermometers  give  us 
but  43^" 


U  F 


u«'-" 


ilMt''^* 


1*' 


f 


r' 


f^ 


!    T 


392 


MELVILLE'S     MONUMENT. 


The  bergs  were  an  interesting  subject  of  study.  I 
counted  one  morning  no  less  than  two  hundred  and 
ten  of  them  from  our  decks,  forming  a  beaded  line  from 
theN.N.W.totheS.S.E. 

^^ August  10.  Another  day  of  sunshine.  Were  we 
in  the  Mediterranean,  there  could  not  be  a  warmer 
sky.  It  ends  with  the  sky  though ;  for  our  thermom- 
eters  fell  at  four  A.M.  to  24°.  A  careful  set  of  observa- 
tions with  Green's  standard  thermometers  gave  18° 
as  the  difference  between  the  sunshine  and  shade  at 
noonday.  The  young  ice  was  nearly  an  inch  -thick. 
Myriads  of  Auks  were  seen,  and  the  usual  supply  duly 
slaughtered. 

"  Melville's  Monument  appeared  to-day  under  a  new 
phase,  rising  out  from  the  surrounding  floe  ice,  either 
a  salient  peninsula  or  an  isolated  rock. 

"  The  land  ice  measured  but  five  feet  seven  inches, 
the  reduced  growth,  probably,  of  a  single  season.  The 
open  leads  multiply,  for  we  made  under  sail  about 
fifteen  miles  N.N.W." 

As  the  next  day  glided  in,  the  skies  became  over- 
cast, and  the  wind  rose.  Mist  gathered  about  the 
horizon,  shutting  out  the  icebergs.  The  floes,  which 
had  opened  before  with  a  slender  wind  from  the  north- 
ward, now  shed  off  dusty  wreaths  of  snow,  and  began 
to  close  rapidly. 

Moving  along  in  our  little  river  passage,  we  ob- 
served it  growing  almost  loo  narrow  for  navigation, 
and  every  now  and  then,  where  a  projecting  cape 
stretched  out  toward  this  advancing  ice,  we  had  to 
run  the  gauntlet  between  the  opposing  margins. 

It  is  under  these  circumstances,  with  a  gale  prob- 
ably outside,  and  a  fog  gathering  around,  that  the 
whalers,  less  strengthened  than  ourselves,  and  taught 


HUMMOCKING. 


393 


over- 
it  the 
I  which 
north- 
began 

re  oh- 
ration, 
cape 
liad  to 

proh' 

[at  the 

taught 


by  a  fearful  experience,  seek  protecting  bights  among 
the  floes  or  cut  harbors  in  the  ice.  For  us,  the  word 
delay  did  not  enter  into  our  commander's  thoughts. 
We  had  not  purchased  caution  by  disaster ;  and  it 
was  essential  to  success  that  we  should  make  the 
most  of  this  Godsend,  a  "slant"  from  the  southeast. 

We  pushed  on ;  but  the  Rescue,  less  fortunate  than 
ourselves,  could  not  follow.  She  was  jammed  in  be- 
tween two  closing  surfaces.  We  were  looking  out 
for  a  temporary  niche  in  which  to  secure  ourselves, 
when  we  were  challenged  to  the  bear  hunt  I  have 
spoken  of  a  few  pages  back. 

Upon  regaining  the  deck  with  Mr.  Lovell's  prize,  we 
were  struck  with  the  indications  of  a  brooding  wind 
outside.  The  ice  was  closing  in  every  direction ;  and 
our  master,  Mr.  Murdaugh,  had  no  alternative  but  to 
tie  up  and  await  events.  The  Rescue  did  the  same, 
some  three  hundred  yards  to  the  southward. 

By  five  A.M.,  a  projecting  edge  of  the  outside  floe 
came  into  contact  with  our  own,  at  a  point  midway 
between  the  two  vessels.  This  assailing  floe  w  as  three 
feet  eight  inches  thick,  perhaps  a  mile  in  diameter, 
and  moving  at  a  rate  of  a  knot  an  hour.  Its  weight 
was  some  two  or  three  millions  of  tons.  So  irresistible 
was  its  momentum,  that,  as  it  impinged  against  the 
solid  margin  of  the  land  ice,  there  was  no  recoil,  no  in- 
terruption to  its  progress.  The  elastic  material  cor- 
rugated before  the  enormous  pressure  ;  then  cracked, 
then  crumbled,  and  at  last  rose,  the  lesser  over  the 
greater,  sliding  up  in  great  inclined  planes :  and  these, 
again,  breaking  by  their  weight  and  their  continued 
impulse,  toppled  over  in  long  lines  of  fragmentary  ice. 
This  imposing  process  of  dynamics  is  called 
"Hummocking."     Its  most  striking  feature  was  its 


P- 


fit  II 


'  Mi 


m 


Kni 


M 


394 


A    PINCH. 


f  i 


h»J 


unswerving,  unchecked  continuousness.  The  mere 
commotion  was  hardly  proportioned  either  to  the  in- 
tensity  of  the  force  or  the  tremendous  effects  which  it 
produced.  Tables  of  white  marble  were  thrust  into 
the  air,  as  if  by  invisible  machinery. 

First,  an  inclined  face  would  rise,  say  ten  feet ;  then 
you  would  hear  a  grinding,  tooth-pulling  crunch :  it 
has  cracked  at  its  base,  and  a  second  is  sliding  up 
upon  it.  Over  this,  again,  comes  a  third ;  and  here- 
upon the  first  breaks  down,  carrying  with  it  the  sec- 
ond ;  and  just  as  you  are  expecting  to  see  the  whole 
pile  disappear,  up  comes  a  fourth,  larger  than  any  of 
the  rest,  and  converts  all  its  predecessors  into  a  cha- 
otic mass  of  crushed  marble.  Now  the  fragments  thus 
comminuted  are  about  the  size  of  an  old-fashioned 
Conestoga  wagon,  and  the  line  thus  eating  its  way  is 
several  hundred  yards  long. 

The  action  soon  began  to  near  our  brig,  which  now, 
fast  by  a  heavy  cable,  stood  bows  on  awaiting  the 
onset.  It  was  an  uncomfortable  time  for  us,  as  we 
momentarily  expected  it  to  "  nip"  her  sides,  or  bear 
her  down  with  the  pressure.  But,  thanks  to  the  in- 
verted wedge  action  of  her  bows,  she  shot  out  like  a 
squeezed  water-melon  seed,  snapping  her  hawser  like 
pack-thread,  and  backing  into  wider  quarters.  The 
Rescue  was  borne  almost  to  her  beam  ends,  but  event- 
ually rose  upon  the  ice. 

We  cast  off  again  about  7  A.M. ;  and  after  a  weari- 
some day  of  warping,  tracking,  towing,  and  sailing, 
advanced  some  six  or  eight  miles,  along  a  coast-line 
of  hills  to  the  northeast,  edged  with  glaciers. 

The  currents  were  such  as  to  entirely  destroy  our 
steerage  way.  Our  rudder  was  for  a  time  useless; 
and  the  surface  water  was  covered  by  ripple  marks 


i   it 


nere 
5  in- 
ch it 
into 


then 
h:  it 
ig  up 
here- 
e  sec- 
whole 
Lny  of 
a  cha- 
ts thus 
hioned 
way  is 

fh  now, 
ng  the 
as  we 
or  hear 
the  in- 
like  a 
[ser  like 
The 
It  event- 

weari- 

sailing. 
)ast-line 

troy  our 

(useless ; 

marks 


THE  devil's  Tlir.MB. 


:>'}\'e : 


MbLVlLLIi;    UAY. 


»    -  !|     l\^ 


(•' 


III 

SI  Vwi 


ill 


ill 


*■•« 


m\ 


*  <t 


A 


i    »■■■ 


■I 


0 


ANIMAL     LIFE, 


395 


which  flowed  in  strangely  looping  curves.  On  the 
I3th  the  sea  abounded  with  life.  Cetochili,  as  well 
as  other  entomostracan  forms  which  I  had  not  seen  be- 
fore,  lined,  and,  in  fact,  tinted  the  margins  of  the  floe 
ice ;  and  for  the  first  time  I  noticed  among  them  some 
of  those  higher  orders  of  crustacean  life,  which  had 
heretofore  been  only  found  adhering  to  our  warping 
lines.  Among  these  were  asellus  and  idotea,  and  that 
jerking  little  amphipod,  the  gammarus.  Acalephse 
and  limacinae  abounded  in  the  quiet  leads.  The  birds, 
too,  were  back  with  us,  the  mollemoke,  the  Ivory  gull, 
the  Burgomaster,  and  the  tern . 

The  shore,  which  we  had  been  so  long  skirting, 
again  rose  into  mountains  ;  on  whose  southern  flanks, 
as  they  receded,  we  could  still  see  the  great  glacier. 
We  had  traced  it  all  the  way  from  the  Devil's  Thumb 
in  a  nearly  continuous  circuit;  now  we  were  about 
to  lose  it.  The  icebergs  had  sensibly  diminished  al- 
ready. 

"6  P.M  Refraction  again!  There  is  a  black  g-lobe 
floating  in  the  air,  about  3°  north  of  the  sun.  What 
it  is  you  can  not  tell.  Is  it  a  bird  or  a  balloon  ?  Pres- 
ently conies  a  sort  of  shimmering  about  its  circumfer- 
ence, and  on  a  sudden  it  changes  its  shape.  Now 
you  see  plainly  what  it  is.  It  is  a  grand  piano,  and 
nothing  else.  Too  quick  this  time  !  You  had  hardly 
named  it,  before  it  was  an  anvil — an  anvil  large  enough 
for  Mulciber  and  his  Cyclops  to  beat  out  the  loadstone 
of  tlie  poles.  You  have  not  got  it  quite  adjusted  to 
your  satisfaction,  before  your  anvil  itself  is  changing ; 
it  contracts  itself  centrewise,  and  rounds  itself  end- 
wise, and,  presto,  it  has  made  itself  duplicate — a  pair 
of  colossal  dumb-bells.  A  moment!  and  it  is  the 
black  globe  again." 


m^ 


"■^^n 


306 


REFRACTION. 


*  I 


; 


About  an  hour  after  this  necromantic  juggle,  the 
whole  horizon  became  distorted:  great  bergs  lifted 
themselves  above  it,  and  a  pearly  sky  and  pearly 
water  blended  with  each  other  in  such  a  way,  that 
you  could  not  determine  where  the  one  began  or  the 
other  ended.  Your  ship  was  in  the  concave  of  a  vast 
sphere ;  ice  shapes  of  indescribable  variety  around  you, 
floating,  like  yourself,  on  nothingness ;  the  flight  of  a 
bird  as  apparent  in  the  deeps  of  the  sea  as  in  the 
continuous  element  above.  Nothing  could  be  more 
curiously  beautiful  than  our  consort  the  Rescue,  as 
she  lay  in  mid-space,  duplicated  by  her  secondary  im- 
age. 

This  unequally  refractive  condition  continued  on 
into  the  next  day ;  diminishing  as  the  sun  approached 
his  meridian  altitude,  but  again  coming  back  in  the 
afternoon  with  augmented  intensity.  The  appearance 
at  night  was  more  wonderful  than  it  had  been  on  the 
12th.  I  am  desirous  to  give  the  impressions  it  made 
on  me  at  the  moment,  and  I  therefore  copy  again 
from  my  journal,  without  erasing  or  modifying  a  sin- 
gle line. 

^*  August  13.  To-night,  at  ten  o'clock,  we  were  op- 
posite a  striking  cliff,  supposed  to  be  Cape  Melville, 
when,  attracted  by  the  ij*regular  radiation  from  the 
sun,  then  about  two  hours  from  the  lowest  point  of 
his  curve,  I  saw  suddenly  flaring  up  all  around  him 
the  signs  of  active  combustion.  Great  volumes  of 
black  smoke  rose  above  the  horizon,  narrowing  and 
expanding  as  it  rolled  away.  Black  specks,  to  which 
the  eye,  by  its  compensation  for  distance,  gave  the  size 
of  masses,  mingled  with  it,  rising  and  falling,  appear- 
ing and  disappearing;  and  above  all  this  w;"s  the  pe- 
culiar waving  movement  of  air,  rarefied  by  an  ..Jjacent 


REFRACTION. 


307 


heat.     The  whole  intervening  atmosphere  was  dis- 
turbed and  flickering. 

^^  August  15.  The  Rescue,  which  has  proved  herself 
a  dull  sailer,  had  lagged  astern  of  us,  when  our  master, 
Mr.  Murdaugh,  observed  the  signal  of  'men  ashore' 
flying  from  her  peak.  We  were  now  as  far  north  as 
latitude  75°  58',  and  the  idea  of  human  life  somehow 
or  other  involuntarily  connected  itself  with  disaster. 
A  boat  was  hastily  stocked  with  provisions  and  dis- 
patched for  the  shore.  Two  men  were  there  upon 
the  land  ice,  gesticulating  in  grotesque  and  not  very 
decent  pantomime — genuine,  unmitigated  Esquimaux. 
Verging  on  76°  is  a  far  northern  limit  for  human  life; 
yet  these  poor  animals  were  as  fat  as  the  bears  which 
we  killed  a  few  days  ago.  Their  hair,  mane-like, 
flowed  over  their  oily  cheeks,  and  their  countenances 
had  the  true  prognathous  character  seen  so  rarely 
among  the  adulterated  breeds  of  the  Danish  settle- 
ments. They  were  jolly,  laughing  fellows,  full  of  so- 
cial feeling.  Their  dress  consisted  of  a  bear-skin  pair 
of  breeches,  considerably  the  worse  for  wear ;  a  seal- 
skin  jacket,  hooded,  but  not  pointed  at  its  skirt ;  and 
a  pair  of  coarsely-stitched  seal-hide  boots.  They  were 
armed  with  a  lance,  harpoon,  and  air-bladder,  for  spear- 
ing seals  upon  the  land  floe.  The  kaiack,  with  its 
host  of  resources,  they  seemed  unacquainted  with. 

"When  questioned  by  Mr.  Murdaugh,  to  whom  I 
owe  these  details,  they  indicated  five  huts,  or  fam- 
ilies, or  individuals,  toward  a  sort  of  valley  between 
two  hills.  They  were  ignorant  of  the  use  of  bread, 
and  rejected  salt  beef;  but  they  appeared  familiar 
with  ships,  and  would  have  gladly  invited  themselves 
to  visit  us,  if  the  officer  had  not  inhospitably  declined 
the  honor." 


"■'  (i^ 


IJM^ 


398 


FROZEN    FAMILIES. 


.  ■  n  ■ 


It  was  not  very  far  from  Cape  York  that  we  met 
these  men.  They  belonged,  probably,  to  the  same  de- 
tached  parties  of  seal  and  fish  catching  coast  nomads, 
that  were  met  by  Sir  John  Ross  in  his  voyage  of  1H19, 
and  whom  he  designated,  fancifully  enough,  as  the 
•*  Arctic  Highlanders." 

Eleven  years  after  his  visit,  some  boat-crews,  from 
a  whaler  which  had  escaped  the  ice  disasters  of  1830, 
landed  at  nearly  the  same  spot,  and  made  for  a  group 
of  huts.  They  were  struck  as  they  approached  them 
to  find  no  beaten  snow-tracks  about  the  entrance,  nor 
any  of  the  more  unsavory  indications  of  an  Esquimaux 
homestead.  The  riddle  was  read  when  they  lifted  up 
the  skin  curtain,  that  served  to  cover  at  once  doorway 
and  window.  Grouped  around  an  oilless  lamp,  in  the 
attitudes  of  life,  were  four  or  five  human  corpses,  with 
darkened  lip  and  sunken  eyeball ;  but  all  else  preserved 
in  perennial  ice.  The  frozen  dog  lay  beside  his  frozen 
master,  and  the  child,  stark  and  stiff*,  in  the  reindeer 
hood  which  enveloped  the  frozen  mother.  The  cause 
was  a  mystery,  for  the  hunting  apparatus  was  near 
them,  and  the  bay  abounds  with  seals,  the  habitual  food, 
and  light,  and  fire  of  the  Esquimaux.  Perhaps  the  ex- 
cessive cold  had  shut  off"  their  supplies  for  a  time  by 
closing  the  ice-holes — perhaps  an  epidemic  had  strick- 
en  them.  Some  three  or  four  huts  that  were  near  had 
the  same  melancholy  furniture  of  extinct  life. 


BIQUIMAUX   ON  SNOW-SHOKS. 


M 


,M' 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
THE  FmST  AMERICAN  EXPEDITION. 

(CONTINXTED.) 

We  sailed  along  the  coast  quietly,  but  with  the  com- 
fortable  excitement  of  expectation.  We  had  not  yet 
seen  su(^h  open  water,  and  were  momentarily  expect- 
ing  the  change,  of  course,  which  wtis  to  lead  us  through 
the  North  Water  to  Lancaster  Sound.  The  glaciers 
were  no  longer  near  the  water-line ;  but  an  escarped 
shore,  of  the  usual  primary  structure,  gave  us  a  pleas- 
ing substitute. 

In  a  short  time  we  reached  the  "  Crimson  Cliffs  of 
Beverley,"  the  seat  of  the  often-described  "red  snow." 
The  coast  was  high  and  rugged,  the  sea-line  broken 
by  precipitous  sections  and  choked  by  detritus.     Sail- 
ing slowly  along,  at  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles,  we 
could  distinctly  see  outcropping  faces  of  red  feldspathic 
rock,  while  in  depending  positions,  between  the  cones 
of  detritus,  the  scanty  patches  of  snow  were  tinged 
with  a  brick-dust  or  bro''"-n  stain.     As  yet  indeed  we 
could  not  see  the  "Crimson"  of  Sir  John  Ross,  who 
gave  to  this  spot  its  somewhat  euphonious  title ;  but 
the  locality  was  not  without  indications  which  should 
excuse  this  gallant  navigator  from  imputations  against 
his  veracity  of  narrative. 

But  it  fell  calm,  and  I  had  an  opportunity  of  visit- 
ing the  shore.     The  place  where  we  landed  was  in 


\t 


■  M 


m 


■>* 


4^'  -^w 


I    i 


iw 


11 1  If 

I  Nil:  I 

f  mi' 


m0m 


fi  t 


\>.  ■ 


'  f.,  i 


% 


t  1 


,^l 


TR 


400 


THE     CEIMSON     CLIFFS, 


latitude  76°  04'  N.,  nearly.  It  was  a  little  cove,  bor- 
dered  on  one  side  by  a  glacier  ;  on  the  other,  watered 
by  distillations  from  it,  and  green  with  luxuriant 
mosses.  It  was,  indeed,  a  fairy  little  spot,  brightened, 
perhaps,  by  its  contrast  with  the  icy  element,  on  which 
I  had  been  floating  for  a  month  and  a  half  before  ;  yet 
even  now,  as  it  comes  back  to  me  in  beautiful  com- 
panionship with  many  sweet  places  of  the  earth,  I  am 
sure  that  its  charms  were  real. 

The  glacier  came  down  by  a  twisted  circuit  from  a 
deep  valley,  which  it  nearly  filled.  As  it  approached 
the  sea,  it  seemed  unnble  to  spread  itself  over  the  horse- 
shoe-like expansion  i..  which  we  stood;  but, retaining 
still  the  impress  marks  of  its  own  little  valley  birth- 
place, it  rose  up  in  a  huge  dome-like  escarpment,  one 
side  frozen  to  the  cliffs,  the  other  a  wall  beside  us,  and 
the  end  a  rounded  mass  protruding  into  the  sea. 

Close  by  the  foot  of  its  precipitous  face,  in  a  fur- 
rowed water-course,  was  a  mountain  torrent,  which, 
emerging  from  the  point  at  which  the  glacier  met  the 
hill,  came  dashing  wildly  over  the  rocks,  green  with 
the  mosses  and  carices  of  Arctic  vegetation ;  while 
from  the  dome-like  summit  a  stream,  that  had  tun- 
neled its  way  through  the  ice  from  the  valley  still 
higher  above,  burst  out  like  a  fountain,  and  fell  in  a 
cascade  of  foam- whitened  water  into  the  sea. 

To  return  to  the  "Crimson  Cliffs."  We  found  tlio 
red  snow  in  greatest  abundance  ui)on  a  talus  fronting 
to  the  soiitliwest,  which  stretched  obliquely  across  the 
glacier  nt  the  seat  of  its  emergence  from  the  vallfv. 
It  was  here  in  great  abundance,  staining  the  surface 
in  patches  six  or  eight  yards  in  diameter.  Similar 
patches  Avere  to  l)e  seen  at  short  intervals  extending 
up  the  valley. 


Bessie's     cove, 


401 


Its  color  was  a  deep  but  not  bright  red.  It  resem- 
bled, with  its  accompanying  impurities,  crushed  pre- 
served cranberries,  with  the  seed  and  capsule  strewn 
over  the  snow.  It  imparted  to  paper  drawn  over  it  a 
nearly  cherry-red,  or  perhaps  crimson  stain,  wiiich  l;r- 
canie  brown  with  exposure ;  and  a  handful  thav.cJ. 
in  a  glass  tumbler  resembled  nuuldy  claret. 

Its  coloring  matter  was  evidently  soluble ;  for,  on 
scrajjing  away  the  surface^  we  foiuul  that  it  had  dyed 
the  snow  beneath  witli  a,  pure  and  beautiful  rose  color, 
which  }>enetrated,  with  a  gradually  softening  tint, 
some  eight  inches  below  the  surface. 

At  4  P.M.  we  left  this  interesting  spot,  for  which 
some  pleasant  associations  had  suggested  to  n>e  the 
name  of  "  Bessie's  Cove,"  and  commenced  beating  to 
the  no'-thward.  The  sea  was  crowded  with  entomos- 
traca  and  clios,  on  which  myriads  of  Auks  were  feed- 
ing. The  prospects  of  open  water  were  most  cheering. 
One  mile  from  the  shore,  we  got  soundings  in  rocky 
bottom,  at  twenty-three  fathoms,  and  then,  wishing  to 
"till  up"  Avith  water  before  attempting  our  ])assage  to 
the  Ave.-it,  Ave  stood  close  in,  seeking  a  favorabh^  s])ot. 

About  eleven  o'clock  ^ve,  were  attracted  by  a  bight 
midway  l)etween  Capes  York  and  Dudley  Digg.s.  Its 
foreground  was  of  rugged  syenitic  rock!*,  and  over  these 
we  could  distinctlv  -ee  the  Avatcr  rushini;  down  in  u 
foaming  torrent.     Here  Avas  ;i  ^vatering-jdace. 

By  means  of  our  old  friends  the  wai-j)s,  we  liauled  in 
so  elo;-!e  that  the  sides  of  our  vessels  touched  the  rocks. 
A  few  inches  (mly  intervened  Ijetween  our  keel  ami 
the  shining  i)ebbles.  We  could  jump  on  shore  as  fiom 
a  wharf.  The  sun  was  .s(»  low  at  this  midnight  liour 
as  to  bathe  every  thing  in  an  atuK^sphere  of  Italian 
})ink,  dellciously  unlike  the  Arctic  rei^Ions.     The  rece.-;.-; 


Lu-.f^ 


■I 


'ip 


':i    lli'i 


■r ," 


I 

iMi 


I! 


'i 

■'  lf''H'!- If 


^»fi«t 


1    ■' 

i 

1 

,   , 

i       z 

h 

402 


A.N     A  EC  TIC      GARDEN 


was  in  blacke>jt  slmdow,  Lut  tlie  cliffs  wliioli  forined 
the  Avails  of  the  cove  rose  up  into  fnll  snnshine.  The 
Auks  crowded  these  rocks  in  myriads.  So,  Avith  gun 
and  sextant,  I  started  on  a  tramp. 

The  cove  itself  measured  but  six  hundred  yards  from 
bluff  to  bluff.  It  was  recessed  in  a  regular  ellipse,  or 
rather  horseshoe,  around  which  the  strongly-featured 
gneisses,  relieved,  as  usual,  with  the  outcroppings  of 
feldspar,  formed  lofty  mural  precipices,  I  estimated 
their  mean  elevation  at  twelve  hundred  feet.  At  their 
bases  a  mass  of  schistose  rubbish  had  accumulated. 

I  have  described  this  recess  as  a  perfect  horseshoe : 
it  was  not  exactly  such,  for  at  its  northeast  end  a  rug- 
ged little  water-feeder,  formed  by  the  melting  snows, 
sent  down  a  stream  of  foam  which  buried  itself  under 
the  frozen  surface  of  a  lake.  Yet  to  the  eye  it  was  a 
nearly  absolute  theatre,  this  little  cove,  and  its  arena 
a  moss-covered  succession  of  terraces,  each  of  indescrib- 
able richness. 

Strange  as  it  seemed,  on  the  immediate  level  of  snow 
and  ice,  the  constant  infiltrations,  aided  by  solar  rever- 
beration,  had  mauj  an  Arctic  garden -spot.  The  sur- 
fiice  of  the  moss,  owing,  probably,  to  the  extreme  altern- 
ations of  lieat  and  cold,  was  divided  into  regular  hex- 
agons and  other  polyhedral  figures,  and  scattered  over 
these,  nestling  between  the  tufts,  and  forming  little 
groups  on  their  southern  faces,  was  a  quiet,  unobtru- 
sive community  of  Alpine  flowering  plants.  The  weak- 
3iess  of  individual  growth  allowed  no  ambitious  species 
to  overpower  its  neighbor,  so  that  many  families  were 
crowded  together  in  a  rich  flower-bed.  In  a  little  space 
that  I  could  cover  with  my  pea-jacket,  the  veined  leaves 
of  the  Pyrola  were  peeping  out  among  chickweeds  and 
saxifrages,  the  sorrel  and  Ranunculus.    I  even  found  a 


mow 
ever- 

!  sur- 


liex- 
td  over 

little 
^obtru- 


we 


Lik- 


^pe 


cies 


were 


sp 


\ce 


leaves 
ds  and 
da 


loan 


LUOkil.NU    4'Olt   WATER. 


llt:JSIK  ri    (JOVK. 


r 


iPl 


'i!     I 


::'f        til-  .UlHi   .A'V       Ui 


ml 

■1  I 
I.,..  J; 


\\-"'  -s. 


.  'IP 


■  I,     f!? 


9ti        ^ 


•••r    T:^ 


'^•^liK 


n 


i>* 


Wl«i 


^  i 


n\ 


m 


II 


e 


h 


:a^s 


FLORULA. 


405 


poor  gentian,  stunted  and  reduced,  but  still,  like  every 
thing  around  it,  in  all  the  perl'ection  of  miniature  pro- 
portions. 

As  this  mossy  parterre  approached  the  rocky  walls 
that  hemmed  it  in,  tussocks  of  sedges  and  coarse  grass 
began  to  show  themselves,  mixed  with  heaths  and 
birches ;  and  still  further  on,  at  the  margin  of  the  horse- 
shoe, and  fringing  its  union  with  the  stupendous  piles 
of  debris,  came  an  annulus  of  Arctic  shrubs  and  trees. 

Shrubs  and  trees  !  the  words  recall  a  smile,  for  they 
only  typed  those  natives  of  another  zone.  The  poor 
things  had  lost  their  uprightness,  and  learned  to  escape 
the  elements  by  traiUng  along  the  rocks.  Few  rose 
above  my  shoes,  and  none  above  my  ankles ;  yet  shady 
alleys  and  heaven-pointing  avenues  could  not  be  more 
impressive  examples  of  creative  adaptation.  Here  I 
saw  ^lie  bleaberry  {Vaccinium  uUginusuni)  in  llower 
and  in  fruit — I  could  cover  it  with  a  wine-glass ;  the 
wild  honeysuckle  (Azalea  prociimhens)  of  our  Penn- 
sylvania woods — I  could  stick  the  entire  plant  in  my 
button-hole ;  the  Andromeda  tetragona,  like  a  green 
marabou  feather. 

Stranjjest  among  these  transformations  came  the 
willows.  One,  the  ^alix  he?-bacea,  liardly  larger  than 
!i  trefoil  clover ;  another,  the  S.  glaiica,  like  a  young 
althea,  just  bursting  from  its  seed.  A  third,  the  S. 
lanata,  a  triton  among  these  boreal  minnows,  looked 
like  an  unfortunate  garter-snake,  bound  here  and  there 
by  claw-like  radicles,  which,  unable  to  j)enetrate  the 
inhospitable  soil,  had  spread  themselves  out  upon  the 
surface — traps  for  the  broke.i  lichens  and  fostering 
moss  \vhich  formed  its  scanty  mould. 

I  had  several  opportunities,  while  taking  sextant  el- 
evations of  tht»  headlands,  to  measure  the  moss-beds 


mm ': . 


r'A 


1  * 


m ' 


i 


1' 


]l'iim-W^\ 


2    t  "ll  *  !«**•  -  ■#Ii;-i«  J 


400 


MOSS-BEDS. 


of  this  cove,  both  by  sections  where  streams  from  the 
hike  had  Jeft  denuded  faces,  and  by  piercing  through 
them  Avitli  a  pointed  stafi',  Tliese  mosses  formed  an 
investing  mould,  built  up  layer  upon  layer,  until  it  had 
attained  a  mean  depth  of  five  feet.  At  one  place,  near 
the  sea  line,  it  was  seven  feet ;  and  even  here  the  slow 
processes  of  Arctic  decomposition  had  not  entirely  de- 
stroyed the  delicate  radicles  and  stems.  The  fronds 
of  the  pioneering  lichens  were  still  recognizable,  en- 
tangled among  the  rest. 

Yet  these  little  layers  represented,  in  their  diminu- 
tive stratification,  the  deposits  of  vegetable  periods.  I 
counted  sixty-eight  in  the  greatest  section.^  Those 
chemical  processes  by  which  nature  converts  our  au- 
tumnal leaves  into  pabulum  for  future  growths  work 
slowly  here. 

My  companions  were  already  firing  away  at  the 
Auks,  which  covered  in  great  numbers  the  debris  of 
fallen  rock.  This  was  deposited  at  an  excessive  in- 
clination, sometimes  as  great  as  47^ ;  its  talus,  some 
three  hundred  feet  in  height,  cutting  in  cone-like  proc- 
esses against  the  mural  faces  of  the  cliff, 

Ther '  was  something  about  this  grp.it  inclined  plane, 
with  its  enormous  fragments,  their  wild  distribution, 
and  steep  ingle  of  deposit,  almost  fearfully  charncter- 
istic  of  the  destructive  agencies  of  Arctic  congelation. 
I  had  never  seen,  not  even  at  the  bases  of  the  miu'al 
traps  of  India  and  South  America — or  better,  perhaps, 
than  either,  our  own  Connectu'ut — such  evidences  of 
active  degradation.     It  is  not  to  the  geologist  alone 

♦  I  popy  the  number  of  those  layers  as  I  find  it  marked  in  my  joiinial ;  yet 
I  do  so,  not  witiiout  some  fear  that  I  may  be  misled  by  the  chirography  of  a 
very  hurried  note.  My  recollections  an;  of  a  very  largo  number,  yet  not  so 
large  as  that  which  my  n  spect  lor  the  littera  scripta  induces  me  to  retain  io 
the  text. 


^ 


ATTKS      NESTS. 


407 


that  these  talus  and  debris  are  impressive.  They  tell 
of  changes  which  have  begun  and  been  going  on  since 
the  existence  of  the  earth  in  its  present  state  by  the 
t'riction  of  time  against  its  surface ;  and  they  carry  us 
on  with  solemn  force  to  the  period  when  the  dehiscent 
ed«res  and  mountain  ravines  of  tliis  same  earth  shall 
have  been  worn  down  into  rounded  hill  and  gentle  val- 
ley. Well  may  they  be  called  "  geological  ciironome- 
ters."*  They  point  with  impressive  finger  to  the  ro- 
tation of  years.  The  dial-phite  and  tiie  index  are  both 
there,  and  human  wisdom  almost  deciphers  the  nota- 
tion ! 

On  the  steeper  fianlrs  of  these  rocky  cones  the  little 
Auks  had  built  their  nests.  The  season  of  incubation, 
though  far  advanced,  had  not  gone  by,  for  the  young 
fledglings  were  looking  down  upon  me  in  thousands; 
and  the  mothers,  with  crops  full  of  provender,  were 
constantly  arriving  from  the  sea.  Urged  by  a  wish  to 
study  the  domestic  habits  of  these  little  Arctic  emi- 
grants  at  their  homestead.  I  foolishly  chimbered  up  to 
one  of  their  most  popular  colonies,  without  thinking 
of  my  descent. 

The  angle  of  deposit  was  already  very  great,  not 
much  less  than  50°;  and  as  I  moved  on,  with  a  walk- 
ing-pole substituted  for  my  gun,  I  was  not  surprised  to 
find  the  fragments  receding  under  my  feet,  ''ind  rolling, 
with  a  resounding  crash,  to  the  plain  below.  Stop- 
ping, however,  to  regain  my  breath,  I  found  that  above, 
ben<'ath,  around  me,  every  thing  was  in  motion.  The 
entire  surface  seemed  to  be  sliding  down.  Ridiculous 
as  it  may  seem  to  dwell  upon  a  matter  apparently  so 
trivial,  my  position  became  one  of  danger.  The  accel- 
erated  velocity  of  the  masses  caused  them  to  leap  off 

•  MantpH's  "  Wonders  of  Geology." 


408 


TRAPPING     THE    AUKS. 


■."If 


I! 


1    I. 


\ir: 


i     4i) 


I  ir 


in  (leflocted  lines.  Several  uncomfortable  fragments 
had  already  passed  by  me,  some  even  over  my  head, 
and  my  walking-pole  was  jerked  from  my  hands  and 
buried  in  the  ruins.  Thus  helpless,  I  commenced  my 
own  half-involuntary  descent,  expecting  momentarily 
to  follow  my  pole,  when  my  eye  caught  a  projecting 
outcrop  of  feldspar,  against  which  the  strong  current 
split  into  two  minor  streams.  This,  with  some  hard 
jumps,  I  succeeded  in  reaching. 

As  I  sat  upon  the  temporary  security  of  tliis  little 
rock,  surrounded  by  falling  fragments,  and  awaiting 
their  slow  adjustment  to  a  new  equilibrium  before  1 
ventured  to  descend,  I  was  struck  with  the  Arctic  orig- 
inality of  every  thing  around.  It  was  midnight,  and 
the  sun,  now  to  the  north,  was  hidden  by  the  rocks ; 
but  the  whole  atmosphere  was  pink  with  light.  Ovei 
head  and  around  me  whirled  innumerable  crowds  of 
Auks  and  Ivory  gulls,  screeching  with  execrable  clam- 
or, almost  in  contact  with  my  person. 

The  calm  which  had  given  us  these  two  days  of 
shore  rambles  left  us  suddenly  on  the  18th.  We  stood 
towards  Wolstenholme  Sound,  and  bore  across  to  the 
west  in  more  open  water  than  we  had  seen  for  several 
weeks.  It  was  now  beyond  doubt  that  we  were  to 
winter  somewhere  among  the  scones  of  Arctic  trial. 
We  were  past  the  barrier,  heading  direct  for  Lancas- 
ter Sound,  with  the  motion  of  waves  once  more  under 
us,  and  a  breeze  aloft.  As  I  refer  to  my  journal,  I  see 
how  the  tone  of  feeling  rose  among  our  little  party. 
We  began  again  with  something  of  confidence  to  con- 
nect the  probable  results  with  the  objects  of  the  ex- 
pedition. We  had  lost  three  weeks  off  the  Devil's 
Tongue,  the  British  steamers  were  far  ahead  of  us  in 
point  of  time,  and  their  superior  ability  and  practice 


m 


GOOD-BY     TO    BAFFIN. 


400 


would  still  keep  thein  in  the  advance ;  and  we  were 
ignorant  of  their  course  and  intended  scheme  of  search. 
We  had  dreamed  before  this,  and  pleasantly  enough, 
of  fellowship  with  them  in  our  efforts,  dividing  be- 
tween us  the  hazards  of  the  way,  and  perhaps  in  the 
long  winter  holding  with  them  the  clieery  intercourse 
of  kindred  sympathies.  We  waked  now  to  the  prob- 
abilities of  passing  the  dark  days  alone.  Yet  fairly  on 
the  way,  an  energetic  commander,  a  united  ship's  com- 
pany, the  wind  freshening,  our  well-tried  little  ice- 
boat now  groping  her  u  ay  like  a  blind  man  through 
fog  and  bergs,  and  now  dashing  on  as  if  reckless  of  ail 
but  success — it  was  impossible  to  repress  a  sentiment 
almost  akin  to  the  so-called  joyous  excitement  of  con- 
flict. 

AVe  were  bidding  good-by  to  '*ye  goode  baye  ol'old 
William  Baffin  ;"  and  as  we  looked  round  with  a  I'are- 
well  remembrance  upon  the  still  water,  the  diminished 
icebergs,  and  the  constant  sun  which  had  served  us  so 
long  and  faithfully,  we  felt  that  the  bay  had  used  us 
kindly. 

Though  I  had  read  a  good  deal  in  the  voyagers' 
books  about  Baffin's  Bay,  I  had  strangely  and  entirely 
misconceived  the  prominent  features  of  its  summer 
scenery.  There  is  a  combination  of  warmth  and  cold 
in  the  tone  of  its  landscapes,  a  daring,  eccentric  Viiri- 
ety  of  forms,  an  intense  clearness,  almost  energy  of  ex- 
pression, which  might  tax  Turner  and  Stanfield  to- 
gether to  reproduce  them  with  an  approach  to  truth. 
How  could  they  trace  the  features  of  the  iceberg,  melt- 
ing into  shapes  so  boldly  marked,  yet  so  undefined  ;  or 
body  forth  its  cold  varieties  of  unshaded  white,  or  the 
azure  clave-obscure  of  the  ice-chasm!  There  are  the 
black  hills,  blots  upon  rolling  snow;  the  ice-plain,  mar- 


m 


f  iV 


-no 


CONTINUOUS    DAYLIOflT. 


I .!  ■^'  •■ ; 


m 


gined  with  glaciers,  and  jiittiii«]f  out  in  (rnpcis  from  th« 
clilied  shore:  there  is  the  still  blue  water.  Or,  il' ym 
want  action  instead  of  repose,  In^re  is  the  crasliin;,'  floe, 
the  grinding  hunnnocrkjUtid  the  uioiuinientMl  IxM'g  ris- 
ing above  both!  itself,  though  perishable,  a  seeming 
porinanency  compared  with  the  ephemeral  ruins  that 
baat  {(gainst  its  sides. 

All  this  is  attempered  by  the  Wiirm  glazing  of  a  tint- 
ed atmosphere.  The  sky  of  Jialhn's  Jiay,  though  hut 
eight  hundred  mih^s  from  the  Pohir  limit  of  all  nortli- 
ernness,  is  as  warm  as  the  Bay  of  Na])h;s  after  a  .Tune 
rain.  What  artist,  then,  could  give  this  mysterious 
union  of  warm  atmosphere  and  cold  lands(;ape  t 

The  per|)etual  <layHght  liad  continued  u])  tt*  lliis 
moment  with  unahatcd  olarc.  Tlu!  sun  had  I'cat'hcd 
his  north  meridian  altitude  st)m(!  days  before,  hut  the 
eye  was  hardly  awai'c  of  chaiuj^e.  JMidniuht  hud  a 
softened  character,  like  the  h)w  sununer's  sun  at  home, 
but  then^  was  no  twilight. 

At  first  the  novelty  of  this  great  unvarying  day 
made  it  pleasing.  It  was  curious  to  see  the  "  mid- 
night Arctic  sun  set  into  suni'lse,"  and  jdeusant  to  tind 
that,  Avhether  you  ate  or  slei)t,  or  idled  or  toiled,  the 
same  daylight  was  ah\'ays  there.  No  irksome  night 
forced  u])on  you  its  system  of  compulsory  alternations. 
I  could  dine  at  nudnigbt,  sup  at  breakfast-time,  and 
go  to  bed  at  noonday ;  and  but  for  an  appai'atus  of 
coils  and  cogs,  called  a  watch,  would  ha\e  been  no 
wiser  and  no  worse. 

My  feeling  was  at  first  an  extravagant  sense  of  un- 
defined relief,  of  some  vag.ie  restraint  removed.  I 
seemed  to  have  thrown  oft'  the  slavery  of  hours.  In 
fact,  I  could  hardly  realize  its  entirety.  The  astrnl 
lamjis,  standing,  dust-covered,  on  our  lockers — I  am 


CON  TIN  UOUtJ     DAVMii  IIT. 


411 


qiiolinf^  tli«^  words  ol'  my  joiiriuil — pii/zlcd   ino,  aa 
tliiii{J[S  obsolete  and  laiicirul. 

]\ly  lot  had  boeti  cast  in  tlio  zono  oriiriodondroiis  and 
suii!ir-mapl(!s,  in  tlio  nearly  midway  liititudr;  of  10'. 
1  iiiid  bc!(!n  inibitnalcd  to  day  jmu!  iiij^ht;  and  <!V(M'y 
portion  ol' those  two  j^reat  divisions  ha.d  lor  nie  its  })«;- 
riods  of  peculiar  association.  Even  in  the  tropics,  I 
liad  mourned  the  lost  twin«j^ht.  llovv  mudi  more  did 
1  miss  the  sootliin<,Mliirkness,  of  wliich  tvvili<(ht  sliouhl 
liave  been  the  precursor!  J  be^rjin  leei,  witli  more 
of  emotion  than  a  imm  writinjr  for  otliers  likes  lo  con- 
fess to,  how  admiriible,  as  a  systcunatic  law,  is  tiie  al- 
ternation of  day  and  ni^^ht — words  that  type  the  two 
{^reat  conditions  of  livih<^  nature,  action  and  repose. 
To  those  who  with  daily  labor  earn  the  daily  bread, 
how  kindly  the  season  of  sU^ep!  To  tlie  drone  who, 
urginl  by  the  waning  daylight,  Imstens  the  dei'erred 
task,  how  fortunate  that  his  pro(rrastiiuition  has  not  a 
six  months'  morrow !  To  the  brain-workers  aiuouir 
men,  the  enthusiasts,  who  bear  irksomely  the  dark 
screen  which  falls  upon  tlieir  day-dreains,  how  benig- 
nant the  dear  night  blessing,  which  enforces  reluctant 
re^t! 

^^Aiffrttst  10.  Tlie  wind  continued  Iresliening,  the 
Aneroid  falling  two  tenths  in  the  night.  About  eight 
1  was  called  by  our  master,  with  the  news  that  a 
cou})l('  of  vessels  wen;  following  in  our  wake.  A\''o 
were  shortening  sail  for  our  consort;  and  by  half  past 
twelve,  the  larger  stranger,  the  Lady  Franklin,  cajue 
up  a!')ng  side  of  us.  A  cordial  greeting,  such  as  those 
only  know  who  have  been  pelted  for  weeks  in  the  sol- 
itudes of  Arctic  ice — and  we  learned  that  this  was 
Captain  Penny's  squadron,  bound  on  Ihe  same  pursuit 
as  ourselves.    A  hurried  interchange  of  news  followed. 


^mi 


'■<\ 


^>. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


1.0 


I.I 


iiiiii 

M 

1.8 


1.25      1.4       1.6 

* 6"     

► 

Photographic 

Sdences 
Corporation 


4 


V 


^ 


<> 


'% 


.V 


<^' 


6^ 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


^ 


f^ 


<' 


!■ 


412  CAPTAIN     penny's     SQUADKON. 

Tho  ico  in  Melville  Bay  had  bothered  both  parties 
alike ;  Commodore  Austin,  with  his  steamer  tenders, 
was  three  days  ago  at  Carey's  Islands,  a  group  near- 
ly as  liiyrli  as  77°  north  latitude;  the  North  Star,  the 
missing  provision  transport  of  last  summer,  was  safe 
somewhere  in  Lancaster  Sound,  probably  at  Leopold 
Island.     For  the  rest,  God  speed  ! 

"  As  she  slowly  forged  ahead,  there  came  over  the 
rough  sea  that  good  old  English  hurra,  which  we  in- 
herit  on  our  side  the  water.  '  Three  cheers,  hearty, 
with  a  will !'  indicating  as  nmch  of  brotherhood  as 
sympathy.  *  Stand  alol't,  boys !'  and  we  gave  back  the 
greeting.  One  cheer  more  of  acknowledgment  on  each 
side,  and  the  sister  flags  separated,  each  on  its  errand 
of  mercy. 

**  The  sea  is  short  and  excessive.  Every  thing  on 
deck,  even  anchors  and  quarter-boats,  have  '  fetched 
away,'  and  the  little  cabin  is  half  afloat.  The  Rescue 
is  staggering  under  heavy  sail  astern  of  us.  We  are 
making  six  or  seven  knots  an  hour.  Murdaugh  is 
ahead,  looking  out  tor  ice  and  rocks ;  De  Haven  con- 
ning the  ship. 

"  All  at  once  a  high  mountain  shore  rises  before  us, 
and  a  couple  of  isolated  rocks  show  themselves,  not 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  milo  ahead,  white  with  break- 
ers.    Both  vessels  are  laid  to." 

The  storm  reminded  me  of  a  Mexican  "  nortlibf." 
It  was  not  till  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  that  we 
were  able  to  resume  our  track,  under  a  doubie-reefod 
top-sail,  stay-sail,  and  spencer.  We  were,  of  course, 
without  observation  still,  and  could  only  reckon  that 
we  had  passed  the  Cunningham  Mountains  and  Capo 
Warrender. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  21st,  an- 


SIR     JOHN    llOSS. 


413 


other  saii  was  reported  ahead,  a  top-sail  schooner,  tow- 
ing after  her  what  appeared  to  be  a  launch,  decked 
over. 

**  When  I  reached  the  deck,  we  were  nearly  up  to 
her,  lor  we  had  shaken  out  our  reels,  and  were  driving 
before  the  wind,  shipping  seas  at  every  roll.  The  lit- 
tle schooner  was  under  a  single  close-reefed  top-sail,  and 
seemed  fluttering  over  the  waves  like  a  crippled  bird. 
Presently  an  old  fellow,  with  a  cloak  tossed  over  his 
niglit  gear,  appeared  in  the  lee  gangway,  and  saluted 
with  a  voice  that  rose  above  the  winds. 

"It  was  the  Felix,  commanded  by  that  practical 
Arctic  veteran.  Sir  John  Uoss.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
heartiness  with  which  the  hailing  officer  sang  out,  in 
the  midst  of  our  dialogue,  *  You  and  I  are  ahead  of  them 
all.'  It  W'tS  so  indeed.  Austin,  with  two  vessels,  was 
at  Pond's  Bay;  Penny  was  somewhere  in  the  gale; 
and  others  of  Austin's  squadron  were  exploring  the 
north  side  of  the  Sound.  The  Felix  and  the  Advaiice 
were  on  the  lead. 

"Before  we  separated.  Sir  John  Ross  came  on  deck, 
and  stood  at  the  side  of  his  officer,  lie  was  a  square- 
built  man,  apparently  very  little  stricken  in  years,  and 
well  able  to  bear  his  part  in  the  toils  and  hazards  of 
life.  He  has  been  wounded  i!i  four  several  engage- 
ments— twice  desperately — and  is  scarred  from  head 
to  foot.  He  has  conducted  two  Polar  expeditions  al- 
ready, and  performed  in  one  of  them  the  unparalleled 
feat  of  wintering  four  years  in  Arctic  snows.  And 
here  he  is  again,  in  a  flimsy  cockle-shell,  after  contrib- 
uting his  purse  and  his  influence,  embarked  himself  in 
the  crusade  of  search  for  a  lost  comrade.  We  met  him 
off  Admiralty  Inlet,  just  about  the  spot  at  which  he 
was  picked  up  seventeen  years  before." 


1 


414 


THE     PRINCE     ALBERT. 


■> 


I 


Soon  after  midnight,  the  hind  became  visible  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Sound.  We  had  passed  Cape  Charles 
Yorke  and  Cape  Crawfurd,  and  were  fanning  along 
sluggishly  with  all  the  sail  we  could  crowd  for  Port 
Leopold. 

It  was  the  next  day,  however,  before  we  came  in 
sight  of  the  island,  and  it  was  nearly  spent  when  we 
found  ourselves  slowly  approaching  Whaler  Point,  the 
seat  of  the  harbor.  Our  way  had  been  remarkably 
clear  of  ice  for  some  days,  and  we  were  vexed  to  find, 
therefore,  that  a  firm  and  rugged  barrier  extended  along 
the  western  shore  of  the  inlet,  and  apparently  across 
the  entrance  we  were  seeking. 

It  was  a  great  relief  to  us  to  see,  at  half  past  six  in 
the  evening,  a  top-sail  schooner  working  toward  us 
through  the  ice.  She  boarded  us  at  ten,  and  proved 
to  be  Lady  Franklin's  own  search-vessel,  the  Prince 
Albert. 

This  was  a  very  pleasant  meeting.  Captain  For- 
syth, who  commanded  the  Albert,  and  Mr.  Snow,  who 
acted  as  a  sort  of  adjutant  under  him,  were  very  agree- 
able gentlemen.  They  spent  some  hours  with  us, 
which  Mr.  Snow  has  remembered  kindly  in  the  journal 
he  has  published  since  his  return  to  England.  Their 
little  vessel  was  much  less  perfectly  fitted  than  ours  to 
encounter  the  perils  of  the  ice ;  but  in  one  respect  at 
least  their  expedition  resembled  our  own.  They  had 
to  rough  it :  to  use  a  Western  phrase,  they  had  no  fan- 
cy fixings — nothing  but  what  a  hasty  outfit  and  a  lim- 
ited purse  could  supply.  They  were  now  bound  for 
Cape  Rennell,  after  which  they  proposed  making  a 
sledge  excursion  over  the  lower  Boothian  and  Cock- 
burne  lands. 

The  North  Star,  they  told  us,  had  been  caught  by 


CAPE    RILEY. 


415 


the  ice  last  season  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  own  first 
hnprisonment,  off  the  Devil's  Thumb.  After  a  peril- 
ous drift,  she  had  succeeded  in  entering  Wolstenholnie 
Sound,  whence,  after  a  tedious  winter,  she  had  only  re- 
cently arrived  at  Port  Bowen. 

They  followed  in  our  wake  the  next  day  as  we  push- 
ed through  many  streams  of  ice  across  the  strait.  We 
sighted  the  shore  about  five  miles  to  the  west  of  Cape 
Ilurd  very  closely ;  a  miserable  wilderness,  rising  in 
terraces  of  broken-down  limestone,  arranged  between 
the  hills  like  a  vast  theatre. 

On  the  25th,  still  beating  through  the  ice  off  Rad- 
stock  Bay,  we  discovered  on  Cape  Riley  two  cairns, 
one  of  them,  the  most  conspicuous,  with  a  flag-staff  and 
ball.  A  couple  of  hours  after,  we  were  near  enough 
to  land.  The  cape  itself  is  a  low  projecting  tongue  of 
limestone,  but  at  a  short  distance  behind  it  the  (jliff 
rises  to  the  height  of  some  eight  hundred  feet.  AVe 
found  a  tin  canister  within  the  larger  cairn,  contain- 
ing the  information  that  Captain  Ommanney  had  been 
there  two  days  before  us,  with  the  Assistance  and  In- 
trepid, belonging  to  Captain  Austin's  squadron,  and 
had  discovered  traces  of  an  encampment,  and  other 
indications  "that  some  party  belonging  to  her  Britan- 
nic majesty's  service  had  been  detained  at  this  spot." 
Similar  traces,  it  was  added,  had  been  found  also  on 
Beec'hy  Island,  a  projection  on  the  channel  side  some 
ten  miles  from  Cape  Riley. 

Our  consort,  the  Rescue,  as  we  afterward  learned, 
had  shared  in  this  discovery,  though  the  British  com- 
mander's inscription  in  the  cairn,  as  well  as  his  offi- 
cial reports,  might  lead  perhaps  to  a  different  conclu- 
sion. Captain  Griffin,  in  fact,  landed  with  Captain 
Ommanney,  and  the  traces  were  registered  while  the 
two  officers  were  in  company. 


i- 


4ii; 


FRANKLIN    S    ENCAMPMENT. 


I  inspected  tliese  different  tmces  very  carefully,  and 
noted  vvliat  I  observed  at  the  moment.  The  appear- 
ances  which  connect  them  with  the  story  of  Sir  John 
Franklin  have  been  described'  by  others ;  but  there 
may  still  be  interest  in  a  description  of  them  made 
while  they  were  under  my  eye.  I  transcribe  it  word 
for  word  from  my  journal. 

"  On  a  tongue  of  fossiliferous  limestone,  fronting  to- 
ward the  west  on  a  little  indentation  of  the  water,  and 
shielded  from  the  north  by  the  precipitous  cliffs,  are 
five  distinct  remnants  of  habitation. 

"  Nearest  the  cliffs,  four  circular  mounds  or  henp- 
ings-up  of  the  crumbled  limestone,  aided  by  lar<,'er 
stones  placed  at  the  outer  edge,  as  if  to  protect  the 
leash  of  a  tent.  Two  larger  stones,  with  an  interval 
of  two  feet,  I'ronting  the  west,  mark  the  places  of  en- 
trance. 

"  {Several  large  square  stones,  so  arranged  as  to  serve 
probably  for  a  fire-place.  These  have  been  tumbled 
over  by  parties  before  us. 

"  More  distant  from  the  cliffs,  yet  in  line  with  the 
four  already  described,  is  a  larger  inclosure ;  the  door 
facing  south,  and  looking  toward  the  strait :  this  so- 
called  door  is  simply  an  entrance  made  of  large  stones 
placed  one  above  the  other.  The  inclosure  itself  tri- 
angular; its  northern  side  about  eighteen  inches  high, 
built  up  of  flat  stones.  Some  bird  bones  and  one  rib 
of  a  seal  were  found  exactly  in  the  centre  of  this  tri- 
angle, as  if  a  party  had  sat  round  it  eating ;  and  the 
top  of  a  preserved  meat  case,  much  rusted,  was  found 
in  the  same  place.  I  picked  up  a  piece  of  canvas  or 
duck  on  the  cliff  side,  well  worn  by  the  weather :  the 
sailors  recognized  it  at  once  as  the  gore  of  a  pair  of 
trowsers. 


FRANKLIN    S    ENCAMPMENT. 


41 


t( 


A  fifth  circle  is  discernible  nearer  the  cliffs,  which 
may  have  belonged  to  the  same  party.  It  was  less 
perfect  than  the  others,  and  seemed  of  an  older  date. 

"  On  the  beach,  some  twenty  or  thirty  yards  from 
the  triangular  inclosure,  were  several  pieces  of  pine 
wood  about  four  inches  long,  painted  green,  and  white, 
ami  black,  and,  in  one  instance,  puttied ;  evidently 
parts  of  a  boat,  and  apparently  collected  as  kindling 
wood." 

The  indications  were  meagre,  but  the  conclusion 
they  led  to  was  irresistible.  They  could  not  be  the 
work  of  Esquimaux  :  the  whole  character  of  them  con- 
tradicted it:  and  the  only  European  who  could  have 
visited  Cape  Riley  was  Parry,  twenty-eight  years  be- 
Ibre ;  and  we  knew  from  his  journal  that  he  had  not 
encamped  here.  Then,  again,  Ommanney's  discovery 
ollike  vestiges  on  Beechy  Island,  just  on  the  track  of 
a  party  moving  in  either  direction  between  it  and  the 
channel :  all  these  speak  ol'  a  land  party  from  Frank- 
lin's squadron. 

Our  commander  resolved  to  press  onward  along  the 
eastern  shore  of  Wellington  Channel.  We  were  un- 
der weigh  in  the  early  morning  of  the  2Gth,  and  work- 
ing along  with  our  consort  toward  Beechy — I  drop 
the  "  Island,"  for  it  is  more  strictly  a  peninsula  or  a 
promontory  of  limestone,  as  high  and  abrupt  as  that 
at  Cape  Riley,  connected  with  what  we  call  the  main 
by  a  low  isthmus.  Still  further  on  we  passed  Cape 
Spencer ;  then  a  fine  blufl* point,  called  by  Parry  Point 
Innes ;  and  further  on  again,  the  trend  being  to  the 
east  of  north,  we  saw  the  low  tongue,  Cape  Bowden. 
Parry  merely  sighted  these  points  from  a  distance,  so 
that  the  shore  line  has  never  been  traced.  I  sketch- 
ed  it  myself  with  some  care ;  but  the  running  survey 


'.•5*^ 
1  /i^^ 

^+>- 


--  ■>■; 


•I 


41S 


FRANKLIN   S    ENCAMPMENT. 


of  this  celebrated  explorer  had  left  nothing  to  alter. 
To  the  north  of  Cape  Innes,  tho;  jh  the  coast  retains 
the  same  geognostical  character,  the  bluff'  promonto- 
ries subside  into  low  hills,  between  which  the  beach, 
composed  of  coarse  silicious  limestone,  sweeps  in  long 
curvilinear  terraces.  Measuring  some  of  these  rudely 
afterward,  I  found  that  the  elevation  of  the  highest 
plateau  did  not  exceed  forty  feet. 

Our  way  northward  was  along  an  ice  channel  close 
under  the  eastern  shore,  and  bounded  on  the  other  side 
by  the  ice-pack,  at  a  distance  varying  from  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  three  quarters.  Off"  Cape  Spen- 
cer the  way  seemed  more  open,  widening  perhaps  to 
two  miles,  and  showing  something  like  continued  free 
water  to  the  north  and  west.  Here  we  met  Captain 
Penny,  with  the  Lady  Franklin  and  Sophia.  He  told 
us  that  the  channel  was  completely  shut  in  ahead  by 
a  compact  ice  barrier,  which  connected  itself  with  that 
to  the  west,  describing  a  horseshoe  bend.  He  thought 
a  southwester  was  coming  on,  and  counseled  us  to  pre- 
pare for  the  chances  of  an  impactment.  The  go-ahead 
determination  which  characterized  our  commander 
made  us  test  the  correctness  of  his  advice.  We  push- 
ed on,  tracked  the  horseshoe  circuit  of  the  ice  without 
finding  an  outlet,  and  were  glad  to  labor  back  again 
almost  in  the  teeth  of  a  gale. 

Captain  Penny  had  occupied  the  time  more  profita- 
bly. In  company  with  Dr.  Goodsir,  an  enthusiastic 
explorer  and  highly  educated  gentleman,  whose  broth- 
er was  an  assistant  surgeon  on  board  the  missing  ves- 
sels, he  had  been  examining  the  shore.  On  the  ridge 
of  limestone,  between  Cape  Spencer  and  Point  Innes, 
they  had  come  across  additional  proofs  that  Sir  John's 
party  had  been  here — very  important  these  proofs  as 


P  tt  A  N  K  L  I N   S    t.  N  C  A  M  !•  M  E  N  T. 


419 


extending  the  line  along  the  shore  over  which  the  pai- 
ty  jnust  have  moved  from  Cape  lliley. 

Among  the  articles  they  had  found  were  tin  canis* 
ters,  with  the  London  maker's  label ;  scraps  of  news- 
paper, bearing  the  date  1844  ;  a  paper  fragment,  with 
the  words  "  until  called"  on  it,  seemingly  part  of  a 
watch  order ;  and  two  other  fragments,  each  with  the 
name  of  one  of  Franklin's  officers  written  on  it  in  pen- 
cil. 

On  the  27th,  the  chances  of  this  narrow  and  capri- 
cious navigation  had  gathered  five  of  the  searching 
vessels,  under  throo  different  commands,  within  the 
same  quarter  of  a  mile — Sir  John  Ross',  Penny's,  and 
our  own.  Both  Ross  and  Penny  had  made  the  effort 
to  push  through  the  sound  to  the  west,  but  found  a 
great  belt  of  ice,  reaching  in  an  almost  regular  cres- 
cent from  Leopold's  Island  across  to  the  northern  shore, 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  entrance  of  the  channel. 
Captain  Ommanney,  with  the  Intrepid  and  Assistance, 
had  been  less  fortunate.  lie  had  attempted  to  break 
his  way  through  the  barrier,  but  it  had  closed  on  him, 
and  he  was  now  fast,  within  fifteen  miles  of  us,  to  the 
west* 

After  breakfast,  our  commander  and  myself  took  a 
boat  to  visit  the  traces  discovered  yesterday  by  Cap- 
tain Penny.  Taking  the  Lady  Franklin  in  our  way, 
we  met  Sir  John  Ross  and  Commander  Phillips,  and 
a  (conference  naturally  took  place  upon  the  best  jjlans 
for  concerted  operations.  I  was  very  much  struck 
with  the  gallant  disinterestedness  of  spirit  which  was 
shown  by  all  the  officers  in  this  discussion.  Penny, 
an  energetic,  practical  fellow,  sketched  out  at  once  a 
plan  of  action  for  each  vessel  of  the  party.  He  him- 
self  would  take  the  western  search  ;  Ross  should  run 

25 


^  .,■■1*' 


420 


THE    GRAVES. 


m 


■III 


I 


L5»'" 


i 


over  to  Prince  Regent's  Sound,  communicate  the  news 
to  the  Prince  Albert,  and  so  relieve  that  little  vessel 
from  the  now  unnecessary  perils  of  her  intended  expe* 
dition ;  and  we  were  to  press  through  the  first  open- 
ings in  the  ice  by  Wellington  Channel,  to  the  north 
and  east. 

It  was  wisely  determined  by  brave  old  Sir  John 
that  he  would  leave  the  Mary,  his  tender  of  twelve 
tons,  at  a  little  inlet  near  the  point,  to  serve  as  a  fall* 
back  in  case  we  should  lose  our  vessels  or  become 
sealed  up  in  permanent  ice,  and  De  Haven  and  Penny 
engaged  their  respective  shares  of  her  outfit,  in  the 
shape  of  some  barrels  of  beef  and  flour.  Sir  John 
Ross,  I  think,  had  just  left  us  to  go  on  board  his  little 
craft,  and  I  was  still  talking  over  our  projects  with 
Captain  Penny,  when  a  messenger  was  reported,  mak- 
ing  all  speed  to  us  over  the  ice. 

The  news  he  brought  was  thrilling.  "  Graves,  Cap. 
tain  Penny!  graves!  Franklin's  winter  quarters!" 
We  were  instantly  in  motion.  Captain  De  Haven, 
Captain  Penny,  Commander  Phillips,  and  myself,  join- 
ed by  a  party  from  the  Rescue,  hurried  on  over  the  ice, 
and,  scrambling  along  the  loose  and  rugged  slope  that 
extends  from  Beechy  to  the  shore,  came,  after  a  weary 
walk,  to  the  crest  of  the  isthmus.  Here,  amid  the  ster- 
lie  uniformity  of  snow  and  slate,  were  the  head-boards 
of  three  graves,  made  after  the  old  orthodox  fashion  of 
gravestones  at  home.  The  mounds  which  adjoined 
them  were  arranged  with  some  pretensions  to  symme- 
try, coped  and  defended  with  limestone  slabs.  They 
occupied  a  line  facing  toward  Cape  Riley,  which  was 
distinctly  visible  across  a  little  cove  at  the  distance  of 
flome  four  hundred  yards. 

The  first,  or  that  most  to  the  southward,  is  nearest  to 


THE    GRAVES. 


421 


the  front  in  the  accompanying  sketch.     Its  insorip 
tion,  cut  in  by  a  chisel,  ran  thus : 

"  Sacred 
to  thn 
memory 
,  of 

W.  Draink,  R.  M., 

H.  M.  S.  i:rcbu8 

Died  April  3<l,  1846, 

aged  33  yeura. 

'  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve.' 

Joshua,  ch.  xxitr.,  15.** 

The  second  was : 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of 

John  Hartnkli.,  A.  11.  of  H.  M.  S. 

Erebus, 

aged  23  years. 

'Thus  saith  the  I<urd,  consider  your  ways.' 

Haggal,  i .  7." 

The  third  and  last  of  these  memorials  was  not  quite 
80  well  finished  as  the  others.  The  mound  was  not 
of  stone- work,  but  its  general  appearance  was  more 
grave-like,  more  like  the  sleeping-place  of  Christians 
in  happier  lands.     It  was  inscribed : 

"  Sacred 

to 

the  memory 

of 

John  Torrinoton, 

who  departed  this  life 

January  1st,  A.D.  1846, 

on  board  of 

H.  M.  ship  Terror, 

aged  80  years." 

"Departed  this  life  on  board  the  Terror,  1st  January, 
1846 !"  Franklin's  ships,  then,  had  not  been  wrecked 
when  he  occupied  the  encampment  at  Beechy ! 

Two  large  stones  were  imbedded  in  the  friable  lime- 
stone a  little  to  the  left  of  these  sad  records,  and  near 
them  was  a  piece  of  wood,  more  than  a  foot  in  diam- 


tn-.'i 


I 


f'4^ 


422 


MOUNDS. 


eter,  and  two  feet  eight  inches  high,  which  had  evi. 
dently  served  for  an  anvil-block  :  the  marks  were  un< 
niistakable.  Near  it  again,  but  still  more  to  the  east, 
and  therefore  nearer  the  beach,  was  a  large  blackened 
space,  covered  with  coal  cinders,  iron  nails,  spikes, 
hinges,  rings,  clearly  the  remains  of  the  armorer's  forge. 
Still  nearer  the  beach,  but  more  to  the  south,  was  the 
carpenter's  shop,  its  marks  equally  distinctive. 

Leaving  "the  graves,"  and  walking  toward  Wel- 
lington Straits,  about  four  hundred  yards,  or  perhaps 
less,  we  came  to  a  mound,  or  rather  a  series  of  mounds, 
which,  considering  the  Arctic  character  of  the  surface 
at  this  spot,  must  have  boon  a  work  of  labor.  It  in- 
closed one  nearly  elliptical  area,  and  one  other,  which, 
though  separated  from  the  first  jy  a  lesser  mound, 
appeared  to  be  connected  with  it.  The  spaces  thus 
inclosed  abounded  in  fragmentary  renniins.  Among 
them  I  saw  a  stocking  without  a  foot,  sewed  up  at  its 
edge,  and  a  mitten  not  so  much  the  worse  for  use  as 
to  have  been  without  value  to  its  owner.  Shavings 
of  wood  were  strewed  freely  on  the  southern  side  of 
the  mound,  as  if  they  had  been  collected  there  by  the 
continued  labor  of  artificers,  and  not  far  from  these,  a 
few  hundred  yards  lower  down,  was  the  remnant  of  a 
garden.  AVeighing  all  the  signs  carefully,  I  had  no 
doubt  that  this  was  some  central  shore  establishment, 
connected  with  the  squadron,  and  that  the  lesser  area 
was  used  as  an  observatory,  for  it  had  large  stones 
fixed  as  if  to  support  instruments,  and  the  scantling 
props  still  stuck  in  the  frozen  soil. 

Travelling  on  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  further,  and 
in  the  same  direction,  we  came  upon  a  deposit  of  more 
than  six  hundred  preserved-meat  cans,  arranged  in 
regular  order.    They  had  been  emptied,  and  were  now 


TRACES. 


42n 


filled  with  limestone  pebbles,  perhaps  tu  serve  as  con- 
venient ballast  on  boating  expeditions. 

These  were  among  the  more  obvious  vestiges  of  Sir 
John  Franklin's  party.  The  minor  indications  about 
the  ground  wore  innumerable :  iragments  oi'  canvius, 
rope,  cordage,  sail-eloth,  tarpaulins;  of  casks,  iron*work, 
wood,  rough  and  carved  ;  ol' clothing,  such  as  a  blank- 
et lined  by  long  stitches  with  common  cotton  stutl', 
and  made  into  a  sort  of  rude  coat;  paper  in  scraps, 
wliite,  waste,  and  journal ;  a  small  key ;  a  lew  odds 
and  ends  of  brass- work,  such  an  might  be  part  of  the 
furniture  of  a  locker;  in  a  word,  the  numberless  re- 
liquijc  of  a  winter  resting-place.  One  of  the  papers, 
wlii(di  I  have  preserved,  has  on  it  the  notation  of  an 
astronomical  sight,  worked  out  to  Greenwich  time. 

With  all  this,  not  a  written  memorandum,  or  point- 
ing  cross,  or  even  the  vaguest  inumation  of  the  condi- 
tion  or  intentions  of  the  party.  The  traces  found  at 
Cape  lliley  and  Beechy  were  still  more  baffling.  The 
cairn  was  mounted  on  a  high  and  conspicuous  portion 
of  tlie  shore,  and  evidently  intended  to  attract  observa- 
tion ;  but,  though  several  parties  examined  it,  digging 
round  it  in  every  direction,  not  a  single  particle  of  in- 
formation could  be  gleaned.  This  is  remarkable ;  and 
for  so  able  and  practiced  an  Arctic  commander  as  Sir 
John  Franklin,  an  incomprehensible  omission. 

In  a  narrow  interval  between  the  hills  which  come 
down  toward  Beechy  Island,  the  searching  parties  of 
the  Rescue  and  Mr.  3Iurdaugh  of  our  own  vessel  found 
the  tracks  of  a  sledge  clearly  defined,  and  unmistakti- 
ble  both  as  to  character  and  direction.  They  pointed 
to  the  eastern  shores  of  Wellington  Sound,  in  the  same 
general  course  with  the  traces  discovered  by  Penny 
between  Cape  Spencer  and  Point  Innes. 


ir 


im 


</ 

i>''i 


II  W 


424 


CONCLUSIONS. 


»   s 


I    -^ilf- 


Similar  traces  were  seen  toward  Caswell's  Tower 
and  Cape  Riley,  which  gave  additional  proofs  of  sys- 
tematic journeyings.  They  could  be  traced  through 
the  comminuted  limestone  shingle  in  the  direction  of 
Cape  Spencer;  and  at  intervals  further  on  were  scraps 
of  paper,  lucifer  matches,  and  even  the  cinders  of  the 
temporary  fire.  The  sledge  parties  must  have  been 
regularly  organized,  for  their  course  had  evidently  been 
the  subject  of  a  previous  reconnoissance.  I  observed 
their  runner  tracks  not  only  in  the  limestoiie  crust, 
but  upon  some  snow  slopes  further  to  the  north.  It 
was  startling  to  see  the  evidences  of  a  travel  nearly 
six  years  old,  preserved  in  intaglio  on  a  material  so 
perishable. 

The  snows  of  the  Arctic  regions,  by  alternations  of 
congelation  and  thaw,  acquire  sometimes  an  ice-like 
durability ;  but  these  traces  had  been  covered  by  the 
after-snows  of  five  winters.  They  pointed,  like  the 
Sastrugi,  or  snow- waves  of  the  Siberians,  to  the  march- 
es of  the  lost  company. 

Mr.  Griffin,  who  performed  a  journey  of  research 
along  this  coast  toward  the  north,  found  at  intervals, 
almost  to  Cape  Bowden,  traces  of  a  passing  party.  A 
corked  bottle,  quite  empty,  was  among  these.  Reach- 
ing a  point  beyond  Cape  Bowden,  he  discovered  the 
indentation  or  bay  which  now  bears  his  name,  and  on 
whose  opposite  shores  the  coast  was  again  seen. 

It  is  clear  to  my  own  mind  that  a  systematic  recon- 
noissance was  undertaken  by  Franklin  of  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Wellington,  and  that  it  had  for  its  object 
an  exploration  in  that  direction  as  soon  as  the  ice 
would  permit. 

There  were  some  features  about  this  deserted  home- 
stead inexpressibly  touching.    The  frozen  trough  of  an 


CONCLUSIONS. 


425 


old  water  channel  had  served  as  the  wash-house  stream 
lor  the  crews  olthe  lost  squadron.  The  tubs,  such  as 
Jack  makes  by  sawing  in  half  the  beef  barrels,  al- 
though no  longer  fed  by  the  melted  snows,  remained 
as  the  washers  had  left  them  five  years  ago.  The  lit- 
tie  garden,  too :  I  did  not  see  it ;  but  Lieutenant  Osborn 
describes  it  as  still  showing  the  mosses  and  anemones 
that  were  transplanted  by  its  framers.  A  garden  im- 
plies a  purpose  either  to  remain  or  to  return :  he  who 
makes  it  is  looking  to  the  future.  The  same  officer 
found  a  pair  of  Cashmere  gloves,  carefully  "laid  out  to 
dry,  with  two  small  stones  upon  the  palms  to  keep 
them  from  blowing  away."  It  would  be  wrong  to 
measure  the  value  of  these  gloves  by  the  price  they 
could  be  bought  for  in  Bond  Street  or  Broadway.  The 
Arctic  traveler  they  belonged  to  intended  to  come  back 
for  them,  and  did  not  piobably  forget  them  in  his 
hurry. 

The  facts  I  have  mentioned,  almost  all  of  them,  have 
been  so  ably  analyzed  already,  that  I  might  be  ex- 
cused from  venturing  any  deductions  of  my  own.  But 
it  was  impossible  to  review  the  circumstances  as  we 
stood  upon  the  ground  without  forming  an  opinion ; 
and  such  as  mine  was,  it  is  perhaps  best  that  I  should 
express  it  here. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  plain  that  Sir  John  Franklin's 
consort,  the  Terror,  wintered  in  1845-6  at  or  near  the 
promontory  of  Beechy ;  that  at  least  part  of  her  crew 
remained  on  board  of  her ;  and  that  some  of  the  crew 
of  the  flag-ship,  the  Erebus,  if  not  the  ship  herself,  were 
also  there.  It  is  also  plain  that  a  part  of  one  or  both 
these  crews  was  occupied  during  a  portion  of  the  win- 
ter in  the  various  pursuits  of  an  organized  squadron, 
at  an  encampment  on  the  isthmus  I  have  described, 


■1^!  .■"'I'l 


426 


CONJECTURE. 


I  '^ 


'If!'  •■■■'' 


aiitt 


a  position  which  commanded  a  full  view  of  Lancaster 
Sound  to  the  east  of  south,  and  of  Wellington  Chan- 
nel extending  north.  It  may  be  fairly  inferred,  also, 
that  the  general  health  of  the  crews  had  not  suflered 
severely,  three  only  having  died  out  of  a  hundred  and 
thirty  odd ;  and  that  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  details 
of  duty,  they  were  occupied  in  conducting  and  comput- 
ing astronomical  observations,  making  sledges,  prepar- 
ing their  little  anti-scorbutic  garden  patches,  and  ex- 
ploring the  eastern  shore  of  the  channel.  Many  facts 
that  we  ourselves  observed  made  it  seem  probable  that 
Franklin  had  not,  in  the  first  instance,  been  able  to 
prosecute  his  instructions  for  the  Western  search  ;  and 
the  examinations  made  so  fully  since  by  Captain  Aus- 
tin's officers  have  proved  that  he  never  reached  Cape 
Walker,  Banks'  Land,  Melville  Island,  Prince  Regent's 
Inlet,  or  any  point  of  the  sound  considerably  to  the 
west  or  southwest.  The  whole  story  of  our  combined 
operations  in  and  about  the  channel  shows  that  it  is 
along  its  eastern  margin  that  the  water-leads  occur 
most  frequently:  natural  causes  of  general  application 
may  be  assigned  for  this,  some  of  which  will  readily 
suggest  themselves  to  the  physicist ;  but  I  have  only 
to  do  here  with  the  recognized  fact. 

So  far  I  think  we  proceed  safely.  The  rest  is  con- 
jectural. Let  us  suppose  the  season  for  renewed  prog- 
ress to  be  approaching ;  Franklin  and  his  crews,  with 
their  vessels,  one  or  both,  looking  out  anxiously  from 
their  narrow  isthmus  for  the  first  openings  of  the  ice. 
They  come  :  a  gale  of  wind  has  severed  the  pack,  and 
the  drift  begins.  The  first  clear  water  that  would  meet 
his  eye  would  be  close  to  the  shore  on  which  he  had 
his  encampment.  Would  he  wait  till  the  continued 
drift  had  made  the  navigation  practicable  in  Lancas- 


b!  I  M 


CONJECTURE. 


427 


ter  Sound,  and  then  retrace  his  steps  to  try  the  upper 
regions  of  Baffin's  Bay,  which  he  could  not  reach  with- 
out a  long  circuit;  or  wouUl  he  press  to  the  north 
through  the  opon  lead  that  lay  before  him  i  Those 
who  know  Franklin's  character,  his  declared  opinions, 
his  determined  purpose,  so  well  portrayed  in  the  late- 
ly published  letters  of  one  of  his  officers,  will  hardly 
think  the  question  difficult  to  answer :  his  sledges  had 
already  pioneered  the  way.  We,  the  searchers,  were 
ourselves  tempted,  by  the  insidious  openings  to  the 
north  in  Wellington  Channel,  to  push  on  in  the  hope 
that  .some  lucky  chance  might  point  us  to  an  outlet 
beyond.  Might  not  the  same  temptation  have  had  its 
influence  for  Sir  John  Franklin  ?  A  careful  and  dar- 
ing navigator,  such  as  he  was,  would  not  wait  for  the 
lead  to  close.  I  can  imagine  the  dispatch  v^ith  which 
the  observatory  would  be  ilismantled,  the  armorer's  es- 
tablishment broken  up,  and  the  camp  vacated.  I  can 
understand  how  the  preserved  meat  cans,  not  very  val- 
uable, yet  not  worthless,  might  be  left  piled  upon  the 
shore  ;  how  one  man  might  leave  his  mittens,  aiu)tlier 
his  blanket  coat,  and  a  third  hurry  over  the  search  for 
his  lost  key.  And  if  1  were  required  to  conjecture 
some  explanation  of  the  empty  signal  cairn,  I  do  not 
know  what  I  could  refer  it  to  but  the  excitement  at- 
tendant on  just  such  a  sudden  and  unexpected  release 
Ihini  a  weary  imprisonment,  and  the  instant  prospect 
of  energetic  and  perilous  adventure. 


^-.  f 


*|:'     ■',4.!]. 


:rt  t:  \ 


■f-i'i 


u?:"'* 


^;' 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
TIIE  FIRST  AMERICAN  EXPEDITION. 

(continued.) 

*^ August  28.  Strange  enough,  during  the  night, 
Captain  Austin,  of  her  majesty's  search  squadron,  with 
liis  flag-ship  the  Resolute,  entered  the  same  little  in- 
dentation in  which  five  of  us  were  moored  before.  His 
steam-tender,  the  Pioneer,  grounded  off  the  point  of 
Beechy  Island,  and  is  now  in  sight,  canted  over  by  the 
ice  nearly  to  her  beam  ends. 

"  I  called  this  morning  on  Sir  John  Ross,  and  had  a 
long  talk  with  him.  He  said  that,  as  far  back  as  1847, 
anticipating  the  '  detention'  of  Sir  John  Franklin — I 
use  his  own  word — he  had  volunteered  his  services  for 
an  expedition  of  retrieve,  asking  for  the  purpose  four 
small  vessels,  something  like  our  own ;  but  no  one  list- 
ened to  him.  Volunteering  again  in  1848,  he  was 
told  that  his  nephew's  claim  to  the  service  had  re- 
ceived a  recognition ;  whereupon  his  own  was  with- 
drawn. '  I  told  Sir  John,'  said  Ross,  *  that  my  own  ex- 
perience in  these  seas  proved  that  all  these  sounds  and 
inlets  may,  by  the  caprice  or  even  the  routine  of  sea- 
sons, be  closed  so  as  to  prevent  any  egress,  and  that  ti 
missing  or  shut-off  party  must  have  some  means  of 
falling  back.  It  was  thus  I  saved  myself  from  the 
abandoned  Victory  by  a  previously  constructed  house 
for  wintering,  and  a  boat  for  temporary  refuge.'  All 
this,  he  says,  he  pressed  on  Sir  John  Franklin  before 


VISIT    TO    THE    RES07-.UTE. 


429 


he  set  out,  and  he  thinks  that  Melville  Island  is  now 
the  seat  of  such  a  house-asylum.  '  For,  depend  upon 
it,'  he  added, '  Franklin  will  he  expecting  some  of  us 
to  be  following  on  his  traces.  Now,  may  it  he  that 
the  party,  whose  winter  quarters  we  have  discovered, 
sent  out  only  exploring  detachments  along  Wellington 
Sound  in  the  spring,  and  then,  when  themselves  re- 
leased, continued  on  to  the  west,  by  Cape  Hotharn  and 
Barrow's  Straits  V  I  have  given  this  extract  from  my 
journal,  though  the  theory  it  suggests  has  since  been 
disproved  by  Lieutenant  M'Clintock,  because  the  tone 
and  language  of  Sir  John  Ross  may  be  regarded  as 
characteristic  of  this  manly  old  seaman. 

"  I  next  visited  the  Resolute.  I  shall  not  here  say 
how  their  perfect  organization  and  provision  ibr  win- 
ter contrasted  with  those  of  our  own  little  expedition. 
I  had  to  shake  off  a  feeling  almost  of  despondency 
when  I  saw  how  much  better  fitted  they  were  to  grap. 
pie  with  the  grim  enemy,  Cold.  Winter,  if  we  may 
judge  of  it  by  the  clothing  and  warming  appliances  of 
the  British  squadron,  must  be  something  beyond  our 
power  to  cope  with ;  for,  in  comparison  with  them,  we 
have  nothing,  absolutely  nothing. 

"  The  officers  received  me,  for  I  was  alone,  with  the 
cordiality  of  recognized  brotherhood.  They  are  a  gen- 
tlemanly, well-educated  set  of  men,  thoroughly  up  to 
the  history  of  what  has  been  done  by  others,  and  full 
of  personal  resource.  Among  them  I  was  rejoiced  to 
meet  an  old  acquaintance,  Lieutenant  Brown,  whose 
admirably  artistic  sketches  I  had  seen  in  Haghe's  lith- 
otints,  at  Mr.  Grinnell's,  before  leanng  New  York. 
When  we  were  together  last,  it  was  among  the  trop- 
ical jungles  of  Luzon,  surrounded  by  the  palm,  the 
cycas,  and  bamboo,  in  the  glowing  extreme  of  vegeta- 


h 

M 

II 

m 

if 

^ '         i^S'^^  ^^^^^bI«Ih«  6 

1  !iE:{n  CTtWIMt.  1 

i^2l '  H^  Si  h^bB^HRb^B  V '  B 

X' 

tWi^fefllflllW^HRfii^Hv  ■ 

-* 

« ;./ 

'oi'li 

l^Mpfl^M'M 

'B'n 

^i^K^wHii 

..<    ■  >'''" 

ipH 

HIi^mII 

•*  "         f  ■ 

wflilHK''*''' 

/ 

IB 

;;*n,^ 

wmImPI 

■HP 

;/  ilflflln^^^H 

~  ',.j- '«  Bff  BMI^^^^^M] 

II 

H 

Wk  I 

430 


VISIT    TO    PENNY. 


Mi 


u 


I 


r^ 


ble  exuberance :  here  we  are  met  once  more,  in  the 
stinted  region  of  lichen  and  mosses.  He  was  then  a 
j  unior,  under  Sir  Edward  Belcher :  I — what  I  am  yet. 
The  lights  and  shadows  of  a  naval  life  are  nowhere 
better,  and,  alas !  nowhere  worse  displayed,  than  in 
these  remote  accidental  greetings. 

"  Returning,  I  paid  a  visit  to  Penny's  vessels,  and 
formed  a  very  agreeable  acquaintance  with  the  med- 
ical officer,  Dr.  R.  Anstruther  Goodsir,  a  brother  of  as- 
sistant  surgeon  Goodsir  of  Franklin's  flag-ship, 

"In  commemoration  of  the  gathering  of  the  search- 
ing  squadrons  within  the  little  cove  of  Beechy  Point, 
Commodore  Austin  has  named  it,  very  appropriately, 
Union  Bay.  •  It  is  here  the  Mary  is  deposited  as  an 
asylum  to  fall  back  upon  in  case  of  disaster. 

"  The  sun  is  traveling  rapidly  to  the  south,  so  that 
our  recently  glaring  midnight  is  now  a  twilight  gloom. 
The  coloring  over  the  hills  at  Point  Innes  this  even- 
ing was  sombre,  but  in  deep  reds;  and  the  sky  had  an 
inhospitable  coldness.  It  made  me  thoughtful  to  see 
the  long  shadows  stretching  out  upon  the  snow  toward 
the  isthmus  of  the  Graves. 

"  The  wind  is  from  the  north  and  westward,  and  the 
ice  is  so  driven  in  around  us  as  to  grate  and  groan 
against  the  sides  of  our  little  vessel.  The  masses, 
though  small,  are  very  thick,  and  by  the  surging  of 
the  sea  have  been  rubbed  as  round  as  pebbles.  They 
make  an  abominable  noise." 

The  remaining  days  of  August  were  not  character- 
ized  by  any  incident  of  note.  We  had  the  same  al- 
ternations of  progress  and  retreat  through  the  ice  as 
before,  and  without  sensibly  advancing  toward  the 
western  shore,  which  it  was  now  our  object  to  reach. 
The  next  extracts  from  my  journal  are  of  the  diite  of 
September  3d. 


ICE    DRIFTING. 


431 


"  After  floating  down,  warping,  to  avoid  the  loose 
ice,  we  finally  cast  ofT  in  comparatively  open  water, 
and  began  beating  toward  Cape  Spencer  to  get  round 
the  field.  Once  there,  we  got  along  finely,  sinking  the 
eastern  shore  by  degrees,  and  nearing  the  undelineated 
coasts  of  Cornwallis  Island.  White  whales,  narwhals, 
seals — among  them  the  Phoca  leonina  with  his  puffed 
cheeks — and  two  bears,  were  seen. 

"  The  ice  is  tremendous,  far  ahead  of  any  thing  we 
have  met  with.  The  thickness  of  the  upraised  tables 
is  sometimes  fourteen  feet ;  and  the  hummocks  are  so 
ground  and  distorted  by  the  rude  attrition  of  the  floes, 
that  they  rise  up  in  cones  like  crushed  sugar,  some  of 
them  forty  feet  high.  But  that  the  queer  life  we  are 
leading — a  life  of  constant  exposure  and  excitement, 
and  one  that  seems  more  like  the  '  roughing  it'  of  a 
land  party  than  the  life  of  shipboard — has  inured  us 
lo  the  eccentric  fancies  of  the  ice,  our  position  w^ould 
be  a  sleepless  one. 

^^ September  4,  2  A.M.  Was  awakened  by  Captain 
De  Haven  to  look  at  the  ice  :  an  impressive  sight.  We 
were  fast  with  three  anchors  to  the  main  floe ;  and 
now,  though  the  wind  was  still  from  the  northward, 
and  therefore  in  opposition  to  the  dril't,  the  floating 
masses  under  the  action  of  the  tide  came  with  a  west- 
ward trend  directly  past  us.  Fortunately,  they  were 
not  borne  down  upon  the  vessels ;  but,  as  they  went 
by  in  slow  procession  to  the  west,  our  sensations  w^ere, 
to  say  the  least,  sensations.  It  was  very  grand  to  see 
up-piled  blocks  twenty  feet  and  more  above  our  heads, 
and  to  wonder  whether  this  fellow  would  strike  our 
main-yard  or  clear  our  stern.  Some  of  the  moving 
hummocks  were  thirty  feet  high.  They  grazed  us; 
but  a  little  projection  of  the  main  field  to  windward 
shied  them  off. 


11 

§11 

'w 

JmBm  K  ' 

^rs^ 

n' 

1^^^^ ' 

if' 

1 

^[ffi' 

■ 

BHm' 

■i-'X-" 

w  P^K^I ' 

1  ni 

Al.^Ui 


n 


'^■>  m^m 


432 


ICE    FORMING. 


"We  were  seated  cosily  around  our  little  table  in 
the  cabin,  imagining  our  harbor  of  land  ice  perfectly 
secure,  whon  we  were  startled  by  a  crash.  We  rush- 
ed  on  deck  just  in  time  to  see  the  solid  floe  to  wind- 
ward part  in  the  middle,  liberate  itself  from  its  attach- 
ment  to  the  shore,  and  bear  down  upon  us  with  the 
full  energy  of  the  storm.  Our  lee  bristled  ominously 
half  a  ship's  length  from  us,  and  to  the  east  was  the 
main  drift.  The  Rescue  was  first  caught,  nipped 
astern,  and  lifted  bodily  out  of  water;  fortunately,  she 
withstood  the  pressure,  and  rising  till  she  snapped  her 
cable,  launched  into  open  water,  crushing  the  young 
ice  before  her.  The  Advance,  by  hard  warping,  drew 
a  little  closer  to  the  cove ;  and,  a  moment  after,  the  ice 
drove  by,  j  ust  clearing  our  stern.  Commodore  Austin's 
vessels  were  imprisoned  in  the  moving  fragments,  and 
carried  helplessly  past  us.  In  a  very  little  while  they 
were  some  four  miles  off." 

The  summer  was  now  leaving  us  rapidly.  The 
thermometer  had  been  at  21°  and  23°  for  several  nights, 
and  scarcely  rose  above  32°  in  the  daytime.  Our  lit- 
tle harbor  at  Barlow's  Inlet  was  completely  blocked 
in  by  heavy  masses ;  the  new  ice  gave  plenty  of  sport 
to  the  skaters  ;  but  on  shipboard  it  was  uncomfortably 
cold.  As  yet  we  had  no  fires  below;  and,  after  draw- 
ing around  me  the  India-rubber  curtains  of  my  berth, 
with  my  lamp  burning  inside,  I  frequently  wrote  iny 
journal  in  a  freezing  temperature.  "This  is  not  very 
cold,  no  doubt" — I  quote  from  an  entry  of  the  8th— 
"  not  very  cold  to  your  forty-five  minus  men  of  Arctic 
winters ;  but  to  us  poor  devils  from  the  zone  of  the 
liriodendrons  and  peaches,  it  is  rather  cool  for  the 
September  month  of  water-melons.  My  bear  with  his 
arsenic  swabs  is  a  solid  lump,  and  some  birds  that 


RENDEZVOUS. 


4X\ 


are  waiting  to  be  skinned  are  absolutely  rigid  with 
frost." 

In  the  afternoon  of  this  day,  the  8th,  we  went  to 
work,  all  hands,  officers  included,  to  cut  up  the  young 
ice  and  tow  it  out  into  the  current :  once  there,  the  drift 
cftiried  it  rapidly  to  the  south.  We  cleared  away  in 
this  manner  a  space  of  some  forty  yards  square,  and  at 
five  the  next  morning  were  rewarded  by  being  again 
under  weigh.  We  were  past  Cape  Hotham  by  break- 
fast-time  on  the  9th,  and  in  the  afternoon  were  beat- 
ing  to  the  west  in  Lancaster  Sound. 

"  The  sound  presented  a  novel  spectacle  to  us ;  the 
young  ice  glazing  it  over,  so  as  to  form  a  viscid  sea  of 
sludge  and  tickli/-benders,  from  the  northern  shore  to 
the  pack,  a  distance  of  at  least  ten  miles.  This  was 
mingled  with  the  drift  floes  from  Wellington  Chan- 
nel ;  and  in  them,  steaming  away  manfully,  were  the 
Resolute  and  Pioneer.  The  wind  was  dead  ahead ; 
yet,  but  for  the  new  ice,  there  was  a  clear  sea  to  the 
west.  AVhat,  then,  was  our  mortification,  first,  to  see 
our  pack-bound  neighbors  force  themselves  from  their 
prison  and  steam  ahead  dead  in  the  wind's  eye,  and, 
next,  to  be  overhauled  by  Penny,  and  passed  by  both 
his  brigs.  We  are  now  the  last  of  all  the  searchers, 
except  perhaps  old  Sir  John,  who  is  probably  yet  in 
Union  Bay,  or  at  least  east  of  the  straits. 

"  The  shores  along  which  we  are  passing  are  of  the 
same  configuration  with  the  coast  to  the  east  of  Beechy 
Island ;  the  cliffs,  however,  are  not  so  high,  and  their 
bluff  appearance  is  relieved  occasionally  by  terraces 
and  shingle  beach.  The  lithological  characters  of  the 
limestone  appear  to  be  the  same. 

"  We  are  all  together  here,  on  a  single  track  but  lit- 
tle wider  than  the  Delaware  or  Hudson.     There  is  no 


I- 


m'.: 


434 


RENDEZVOUS 


i  l!k. 


getting  out  of  it,  for  the  shore  is  on  one  side  and  the 
fixed  ice  close  on  the  other.  All  have  the  lead  of  us, 
and  we  are  working  only  to  save  a  distance.  Omman- 
ney  must  be  near  Melville  by  this  time :  pleasant, 
very ! 

"Closing  memoranda  for  the  day:  1.  I  have  the 
rheumatism  in  my  knees ;  2.  I  left  a  bag  containing 
my  dress  suit  of  uniforms,  and,  what  is  worse,  my  win- 
ter suit  of  furs,  and  with  them  my  double-barrel  gun, 
on  joard  Austin's  vessel.  The  gale  of  the  7th  has 
carried  him  and  them  out  of  sight. 

"September  10.  Unaccountable,  most  unaccounta- 
ble, the  caprices  of  this  ice-locked  region !  Here  we 
are  again  all  together,  even  Ommanney  with  the  rest. 
The  Resolute,  Intrepid,  Assistance,  Pioneer,  Lady 
Franklin,  Sophia,  Advance,  and  Rescue ;  Austin,  Om- 
manney, Penny,  and  De  Haven,  all  anchored  to  the 
*  fast'  off  Griffith's  Island.  The  way  to  the  west  com- 
pletely  shut  out." 

"September  11,  Wednesday.  Snow,  light  and  fleecy, 
covering  the  decks,  and  carried  by  our  clothes  into  our 
little  cabin.  The  moisture  of  the  atmosphere  con- 
denses over  the  beams,  and  trickles  down  over  the 
lockers  and  bedding.  We  are  still  along  side  of  the 
fixed  ice  off  Griffith's  Island,  and  the  British  squad- 
ron under  Commodore  Austin  are  clustered  toypther 
within  three  hundred  yards  of  us.  Penny,  like  an  in- 
defatigable old  trump,  as  he  is,  is  out,  pushing,  work- 
ing, groping  in  the  fog.  The  sludge  ice,  that  had 
driven  in  around  us  and  almost  congealed  under  our 
stern,  is  now  by  the  ebb  of  the  tide,  or  at  least  its 
change,  carried  out  again,  although  the  wind  still  sets 
toward  the  floe. 


W^^ 


A    GALE. 


4.'55 


id  the 

of  us, 

nman- 

)asant, 

ve  the 
taining 
ly  win- 
el  gun, 
fth  has 

icounta- 
lere  we 
the  rest, 
r,  Lady 
tin,  Om- 
d  to  the 
est  com- 


"At  three  the  Rescue  parted,  her  cable's  hold,  and 
was  carried  out  to  sea,  leaving  two  men,  her  boat,  and 
her  anchors  behind.  We  snapped  our  stern-ciihh^,  lost 
our  anchor,  swung  out,  but  fortunately  held  hy  the 
I'orwnrd  line.  All  the  English  vessels  were  in  similar 
peril,  the  Pioneer  being  at  one  time  actually  I'ree  ;  and 
Commodore  Austin,  who  in  the  Jle.solute  occuj)icd  the 
head  of  the  line,  was  in  momentary  I'ear  of  coming 
ilou  II  upon  us.  Altogether  I  have  seldom  seen  a  night 
ol' greater  trial.  The  wind  roared  over  the  snow  Hoes, 
and  every  thing  about  the  vessel  froze  into  heavy  ice 
situlactites.  Had  the  main  tloe  parted,  we  Inul  been 
carried  down  with  the  liberated  ice.  Fortumitcly,  ev- 
ery  thing  held  ;  and  here  we  are,  safe  and  sound,  'i'be 
Kescue  was  last  seen  beating  to  windward  against  the 
•rale,  probably  seeking  a  lee  under  Griffith's  Island. 
Tliis  morning  the  snow  continues  in  the  form  of  a  fine 
cutting  drift,  the  water  freezes  wherever  it  touches, 
and  the  thermometer  has  been  at  no  time  above  17°. 

^^ September  12,  10  P.M.  Just  from  deck.  How  very 
dismal  every  thing  seems !  The  snow  is  driven  like 
sand  upon  a  level  reach,  lifted  up  in  long  curve  lines, 
and  then  obscuring  the  atmosphere  with  a  white  dtirk- 
iiess.  The  wind,  too,  is  howling  in  a  shrill  minor, 
singing  across  the  hummock  ridges.  The  eight  ves- 
sels  are  no  longer  here.  The  Rescue  is  driven  out  to 
!sea,  and  poor  Penny  is  probably  to  the  southward. 
Five  black  masses,  however,  their  cordage  defined  by 
rime  and  snow,  are  seen  with  their  snouts  shoved  into 
the  shore  of  ice :  cables,  chains,  and  anchors  are  cov- 
ered feet  below  the  drift,  and  the  ships  adhere  mys- 
teriously, their  tackle  completely  invisible.  Should 
any  of  us  break  away,  the  gale  would  carry  us  into 
streams  of  heavy  floating  ice  ;  and  our  running  rig. 

20 


n 


y 


if 

Mi;.*    11 

*.  '* 

Wmm' 

l^ffiHliit 

.M. 

WhWiSfW  1 

Mr-liiiti 

-.   ;     tf 

'  11  i^&iinu 

,,.^^|i|i|MM|l|p|lj 

'^'^'^  IimI'mIh^KIIv^l  1 ' 

I^IMral' 

J'  »fi 

['  1    tit'iVi      .5     ■'     ' 

0M 

i.f  'h  -ilf 

L                         'J 

fti  I  'i  '     '41  If! 

'                          ' 

i:!,,  *'.n  Mi\\ 

r'i  ,i?irlJilli 

^Im 

PKlM  1 

' 

\mm 

B^Hlii  i 

"% 

!■ 

a«Si;l 

I'i 

il 

^Hi 

;..,.«^, 

ilj^^j 

,■■■■,,. 

iSk 

IttMIU 

t'f 


' 

U 


!! 


|!H.4,'i«|l' 


4.'WJ 


TIlC    GALE. 


ging  is  so  coated  with  icicles  as  to  make  it  impossible 
to  work  it.     The  thermometer  stands  at  14''. 

"At  this  temperature  the  young  ice  I'orms  in  spite 
of  the  increasing  movement  of  tin;  wavers,  stretcliinj,' 
out  from  the  floe  in  long,  /igz-ag  lines  of  smocjtiint'.vs 
resembling  wat<!red  silk.  Tlici  loose  ice  seems  to  liavo 
a  southerly  and  easterly  dril't ;  and,  from  the  iniToas- 
iug  distance  of  (IrilUth's  Island,  seen  during  occasional 
intervals,  we  are  evidently  moving  en  masse  to  the 
south. 

"Now  when  you  remember  that  we  are  in  open 
sea,  attached  to  precarious  ice,  and  surrounded  by 
floating  streams  ;  that  the  coast  is  unknown,  and  the 
ice  forming  inshore,  so  as  to  umke  harbors,  if  we  knew 
of  them,  inac(!essible,  you  may  suppose  that  our  posj. 
tion  is  far  from  pleasant.  One  harbor  was  discovtMcd 
by  a  lieutenant  ol'tlie  Assistance  some  days  ago,  ami 
named  Assistancte  Harbor,  but  that  is  out  of  the  qnes. 
tion ;  the  wind  is  not  only  a  gale,  but  ahead.  Had 
we  the  quarters  of  Capua  before  us,  we  should  bo  un- 
able  to  reach  them.     It  is  a  windward  shore. 

"11  P.M.  Captain  Be  Haven  reports  ice  forming 
fast:  extra  anchors  are  out;  thermometer  +8°.  The 
British  .squadron,  under  Austin,  have  fires  in  full  blast 
we  are  without  them  still. 

"  12  M.  In  bed,  reading  or  trying  to  read.  The  gale 
has  increased  ;  the  floes  are  in  upon  us  from  the  east- 
ward ;  and  it  is  evident  that  we  are  all  of  us  driftinj» 
bodily,  God  knows  where,  for  we  have  no  means  of 
taking  observations. 

"  September  13,  10  A.M.  Found,  on  awaking,  that 
at  about  three  this  morning  the  squadron  commenced 
getting  'mder  weigh.  The  rime-coated  rigging  was 
cleared ;  the  hawsers  thashed  ;  the  ice-clogged  boats 


FOR    OllIKFITIl    S    ISLAND. 


437 


sible 


o»« 


n  spite 

ot  III  less 
to  linve 
iiicretis- 
[jiisioiml 
?  to  the 

in  open 
iitled  i>y 
,  and  the 
we  kii»'\v 
our  posi- 
iscovcved 

Mjro,  unJ 
tho  qnes- 
id.     ll<nl 

Id  l)(;  II n- 

forniiu? 
•8^  The 
full  blast 

The  gale 
tlie  east- 
hs  drifting 
Imeans  of 

:ing,  that 
bminenced 
rging  was 
kged  boats 


hiiuloJ  in;  tho  stoann*rs  st(5iini('d,  and  off  wont  the 
rest  of  us  as  wo  might.  This  st(?p  was  not  taken  a 
wliit  too  soon,  if  it  Ix;  ordained  that  wo  are  y«'t  in 
time ;  for  the  strfiiun-iee  eovers  the  entire  hori/on,  and 
tho  hirge  lloe  or  main  wiiieh  we  have  desc^rted  is  bare- 
ly s(!parated  from  the  drifting  masses.  Tiie  lle.s«'ue  is 
now  tlie  object  of  o»ir  search.  Could  she  be  found, 
tiie  captain  has  determined  to  turn  his  steps  home- 
ward. 

"II  20  A.M.  We  are  working,  i.  c,  beating  our  way 
in  the  narrow  leads  intervening  irreguhu'ly  betwet-n 
the  main  ice  and  the  drift.  We  have  gained  at  hnist 
two  mih's  to  windward  of  Austin's  squadron,  wiio  are 
unabUs  in  spite  of  steamers,  to  move  ah)ng  these  (hiii- 
geroiis  passages  like  ourselves.  Our  object  is  to  reach 
Griflith's  Ishind,  from  which  wo  have  drifted  some  fit- 
teen  miles  with  the  main  ice,  and  then  look  out  l'»r 
our  lost  consort. 

"  The  lowest  temperature  last  night  was  +5^,  but 
the  wind  makes  it  colder  to  sensation.  We  are  grind- 
ing through  newly-formed  ice  three  inches  thick  ;  the 
perfect  consolidation  being  prevented  by  its  motion  and 
the  wind.  Even  in  the  little  tireless  cabin  in  which 
1  now  write,  water  and  coffee  are  freezing,  and  the 
mercury  stands  at  29°. 

"The  navigation  is  certainly  exciting.  I  have  nev- 
er seen  a  description  in  my  Arctic  readings  of  any 
thing  like  this.  We  are  literally  running  for  our  lives, 
surrounded  by  the  imminent  hazards  of  sudden  con- 
solidation in  an  open  sea.  All  minor  perils,  nips, 
bumps,  and  sunken  bergs  are  discarded;  we  are  stag- 
gering along  under  all  sail,  forcing  our  way  while  we 
can.  One  thump,  received  since  I  commenced  writ- 
ing, jerked  the  time-keeper  from  our  binnacle  down 


( 


\>:J 


l^ 


(  ■^'4 


fi  ^t./ 


.v', 


r'^^i^ 


Km 

Wwa 

K 

t 

H 

Wm 

II 

;  . ..( 

'JralB 

ffi 

... 

"tff 

tt'  1 

.  11' 

'if 

yik 

1 


m-' 


*:• 


1         :* 


»f'i  V 


I 


i!-' 


438 


ORDER    FOR     RETURN. 


the  cabin  hatch,  and,  but  for  our  .strong  bows,  seven 
and  a  half  solid  feet,  would  have  stove  us  in.  Anoth- 
er time,  we  cleared  a  tongue  of  the  main  pack  by  rid- 
ing it  down  at  eight  knots.  Commodore  Austin  seems 
caught  by  the  closing  Hoes.     This  is  really  sharp  work. 

"■4  P.M.  We  continued  beating  toward  Griffith's  Is- 
land, till,  by  doubling  a  tongue  of  ice,  we  were  able  to 
force  our  way.  The  English  seemed  to  watch  our 
movements,  and  almost  to  follow  in  our  wake,  till  we 
came  to  a  comparatively  open  space,  about  the  area  of 
Washington  Square,  where  we  stood  off  and  on,  the 
ice  being  too  close  upon  the  eastern  end  of  Grifiith's 
Island  to  permit  us  to  pass.  Our  companions  in  this 
little  vacancy  were  Captain  Ommanney's  Assistance ; 
Osborne's  steam  tender  the  Pioneer,  and  Kater's  steam- 
er the  Intrepid.  Commodore  Austin's  vessel  was  to 
the  southward,  entangled  in  the  moving  ice,  but  mo- 
mentarily Hearing  the  open  leads. 

While  thus  boxing  about  on  one  of  our  tacks,  we 
nearod  the  north  edge  of  our  little  opening,  and  were 
hailed  by  the  Assistance  with  the  glad  intelligence  of  the 
Eescue  close  under  the  island.  Our  captain,  who  was 
at  his  usual  post,  conning  the  ship  from  the  foretop- 
sail  yard,  made  her  out  at  the  same  time,  and  immedi- 
ately determined  upon  boring  the  intervening  ice. 
This  was  done  successfully,  the  brig  bearing  the  hard 
knocks  nobly.  Strange  to  say,  the  English  vessels, 
now  joined  by  Austin,  followed  in  our  wake — a  com- 
pliment, certainly,  to  De  Haven's  ice-mastership. 

We  were  no  sooner  throudi,  than  siy-nal  was  made 
to  the  Rescue  to  '  cast  off,'  and  our  ensign  was  run  up 
from  the  peak  :  the  captain  had  determined  upon  at- 
tempting a  return  to  the  United  States. 

In  a  little  while  w'e  had  the  Rescue  in  tow,  and  were 


THE     RESCUE     N  I  1'  P  E  D  , 


439 


heading  to  the  east.  She  had  had  a  fearful  night  of 
it  after  leaving  us.  She  beat  about,  short-handed, 
clogged  with  ice,  and  with  the  thermometer  at  8°. 
The  snow  fell  heavily,  and  the  rigging  was  a  solid,  al- 
most unmanageable  lump.  Steering,  or  rather  beating, 
she  made,  on  the  evening  of  the  1 2th,  the  southern 
edge  of  Griffith's  Island,  and  by  good  luck  and  excel- 
lent management  succeeded  in  holding  to  the  land 
hummocks.  She  had  split  her  rudder-post  so  as  to 
make  her  luiworlxihlc,  and  now  we  have  her  in  tow. 
An  anchor  wath  its  fluke  snapped — her  best  bower ; 
and  her  little  boat,  stove  in  by  tlie  ice,  w\as  cut  adrift. 

We  were  now  homeward  bound,  but  a  saddened 
homeward  bound  for  all  of  us.  The  vessels  of  our 
gallant  brethren  soon  lost  themselves  in  the  mist,  and 
we  steered  our  course  with  a  fresh  breeze  for  Cape 
Hotham. 

The  night  gave  us  now  three  hours  of  complete 
darkness.  It  was  danger  to  run  on,  j'et  equally  dan- 
ger to  pause.  Grim  winter  was  following  close  upon 
our  heels  ;  and  even  the  captain,  sanguine  and  fear- 
less in  emergency  as  he  always  proved  himself,  as  he 
saw  the  tenacious  fields  of  sludge  and  pancake  thick- 
ening around  us,  began  to  feel  anxious.  Mine  was  a 
jmnble  of  sensations.  I  had  been  desirous  to  the  last 
degree  that  we  might  remain  on  the  field  of  search, 
and  could  hardly  be  dissatisfied  at  what  promised  to 
realize  my  wish.  Yet  I  had  hoped  that  our  wintering 
would  be  near  our  English  friends,  that  in  case  of 
ti'oulde  or  disease  we  might  mutually  sustain  each 
other.  But  the  interval  of  fiftv  miles  between  us,  in 
these  inhospitable  deserts,  was  as  complete  a  sc^para- 
tion  as  an  entire  continent ;  and  I  confess  that  I  look- 
ed at  the  dark  shadows  closing  around  Barlow's  Inlet, 


I  "i1 


440 


FROZEN     IX, 


the  prison  from  which  we  cut  ourselves  on  the  seventh, 
just  six  days  before,  with  feelings  as  sombre  as  the 
landscape  itself 

The  sound  of  our  vessel  crunching  her  way  throucrh 
the  new  ice  is  not  easy  to  be  described.  It  avus  not 
like  the  grinding  of  the  old  formed  ice,  nor  was  it 
the  slushy  scraping  of  sludge.  We  may  all  of  us  re- 
member, in  the  skating  frolics  of  early  days,  the  pecu- 
liar reverberating  outcry  of  a  pebble,  as  we  tossed  it 
froui  us  along  the  edges  of  an  old  mill-dam,  and  heard 
it  dying  away  in  echoes  almost  musical.  Imagine 
such  a  tone  as  this,  combined  with  the  whir  of  rapid 
motion,  and  the  rasping  noise  of  close-grained  sugar. 
I  was  listeninii:  to  the  sound  in  mv  little  den,  after  a 
sorrowful  day,  close  upon  zero,  tr\'ing  to  warm  up  mv 
stifil'iied  limbs.  Presently  it  grew  less,  then  increased, 
then  stopped,  then  went  on  again,  but  jerking  and  ir- 
regular ;  and  then  it  Avaned,  and  waned,  and  waned 
away  to  silence. 

Down  came  the  captain  :  "  Doctor,  the  ice  has  caught 
us  :  we  are  frozen  up."  On  went  my  furs  at  once.  As 
I  reached  the  deck,  the  wind  was  there  blowing  stiff. 
and  the  sails  were  filled  and  pufling  with  it.  It  was 
not  \'et  dark  enough  to  hide  the  smooth  surface  of  ice 
that  iilled  up  the  horizon,  holding  the  American  expe- 
dition in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin  imbedded  in  its 
centre.  There  we  were,  literally  frozen  tight  in  the 
mid-channel  of  Wellinti-ton's  Straits. 

The  region,  wdiich  ten  days  before  was  teeming  with 
animal  lile,  was  now  almost  deserted.  "We  saw  but 
one  narwhal  and  a  few  seal.  The  Ivorv  <iridl  too,  a 
solitary  traveler,  occasionally  flitted  by  us ;  but  the 
season  had  evidently  wrought  its  change. 

Several  flocks  of  the  snow  bunting  had  passed  over 


1)  II I  F  T  I  N  G  , 


441 


us  while  we  were  attached  to  the  main  ice  olT  Griffith's 
Isliind,  and  a  single  raven  was  seen  from  the  Rescue 
at  her  holding  grounds.  The  Brent  geese,  liowever, 
the  dovekies,  the  divers,  indeed  all  the  anatidio,  the 
white  w^iales,  the  walrus,  the  bearded  and  the  hirsute 
seal,  the  white  bear,  whatever  gave  us  life  and  inci- 
dent, had  vanished. 

For  some  days  after  this,  an  obscurity  of  fog  and 
snow  made  it  impossible  to  see  more  than  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  ship.  The  little  area  remained 
fast  bound,  the  ice  bearing  us  readily,  though  a  very 
slight  motion  against  the  sides  of  the  vessel  seemed 
to  show  that  it  was  not  perfectly  attached  to  the  shores. 
Bi'/  as  I  stood  on  deck  in  the  afternoon  of  the  IGth, 
watching  the  coast  to  the  cast  of  us,  as  the  clouds 
cleared  away  for  the  first  time,  it  struck  me  that  its 
configuration  was  unknown  to  me.  By-and  by.  Cape 
Beochy,  the  isthmus  of  the  Graves,  loomed  up ;  and 
wo  then  found  that  w^c  were  a  little  to  the  north  of 
Cape  Bowden. 

The  next  two  days  this  nortliward  drift  continued 
without  remission.  The  wind  blew  strong  from  the 
southward  and  eastward,  sometimes  approaching  to  a 
gale  ;  but  the  ice-pack  around  us  retained  its  tenacity, 
and  increased  rapidly  in  thickness. 

Yet  every  now  and  then  W'C  could  see  that  at  some 
short  distance  it  was  broken  by  small  pools  of  water, 
whicli  would  be  effiiced  again,  soon  after  they  were 
foriut'd,  by  an  external  pressure.  At  these  times  our 
vessels  underwent  a  nip])ing  on  a  small  scale.  Tlie 
smoother  ice-field  that  lu'ld  us  would  be  driven  in.  pil- 
iig  itself  in  miniature  hummocks  about  us,  sometimes 
higher  than  our  decks,  and  much  too  near  them  to 
leave  us  a  sense  of  security  asrainst  their  furth.M'  ad- 


j»'^#P 


i,«;!ti 


442 


N  I P  P  I  N  G  S  . 


um 


'h 


:'|i 


^O       ■' 


\ 


vance.  The  noises,  too,  of  whining  puppies  and  swarm- 
ing bees  made  part  of  these  demonstrations,  much  as 
when  the  heavier  masses  were  at  work,  but  shriller 
perhaps,  and  more  clamorous. 

I  was  aroused  at  midnight  of  the  16th  by  one  of 
these  onsets  of  the  enemy,  crunching  and  creaking 
against  the  ship's  sides  till  the  masses  ground  them- 
selves to  powder.  Our  vessel  was  trembling  like  an 
ague-fit  mider  the  pressure  ;  and  when  so  pinched  that 
she  could  not  vibrate  any  longer  between  the  driving 
and  the  stationary  fields,  making  a  quick,  liberating 
jmnp  above  them  that  rattled  the  movables  fore  and 
aft  As  it  wore  on  toward  morning,  the  ice,  now  ten 
inches  thick,  kept  crowding  upon  us  with  increased 
energy ;  and  the  whole  of  the  ITtli  was  passed  in  a 
succession  of  conflicts  with  it. 

The  IStli  began  with  a  nipping  that  promised  more 
of  danger.  The  banks  of  ice  rose  one  al)ove  another 
till  they  reached  the  line  of  our  bulwarks.  This,  too, 
continued  through  the  day,  sometimes  lulling  for  a 
while  into  comparative  repose,  but  recurring  after  a 
few  minutes  of  partial  intermission.  While  I  was 
watching  this  angry  contest  of  the  ice-tal>les,  as  they 
clashed  together  in  the  darkness  of  early  dawn,  I  saw 
for  the  first  time  the  luminous  appearance,  which  has 
been  described  by  voyagers  as  attending  the  collision 
of  bergs.  It  was  very  marked ;  as  decided  a  plios- 
pliorescence  as  that  of  the  lire-fly,  or  the  fo x-fue  of  the 
Virginia  meadows. 

Still,  amid  all  the  tumult,  our  drift  was  toward  the 
north.  From  the  bearings  of  the  coast,  badly  obtained 
through  the  fogs,  it  was  quite  evident  that  we  had 
passed  beyond  any  thing  recorded  on  the  charts.  Cape 
Bowden,  Parry's  fiu^thest  headland,  was  at  least  twen- 


DRIFT     TO     T  II  li     N  0  U  T  U  W  A  R  D  . 


443 


ty-five  miles  south  of  us ;  and  our  old  landmarks,  Cape 
Hotliam  and  Beccliy,  had  entirely  disappeared.  Even 
the  high  bluffs  of  Barlow's  Inlet  had  gone.  I  hardly 
know  why  it  was  so,  but  this  inlet  had  some  how  or 
other  been  for  me  an  object  of  special  aversion :  the 
naked  desolation  of  its  frost-bitten  limestone,  the  cav- 
ernous recess  of  its  cliffs,  the  cheerlessness  of  its  dark 
shadows,  had  connected  it,  from  the  first  day  1  saw  it, 
with  some  dimly-remembered  feeling  of  pain.  But 
how  glad  we  should  all  of  us  have  been,  as  we  floated 
along  in  hopeless  isolation,  to  find  a  way  open  to  its 
grim  but  protecting  barriers. 

"  Septemher  20.  I  have  been  keeping  the  first  watch, 
and  anxiously  observing  the  ice ;  for  I  am  no  sailor, 
and  in  emergency  can  only  wake  my  comrades.  The 
darkness  is  complete. 

'•  We  are  now,  poor  devils !  drifting  northward  again. 
Creatures  of  habit,  those  who  were  anxious  have  for- 
gotten anxiety :  glued  fast  here  in  a  moving  mass,  we 
eat,  and  drink,  and  sleep,  unmindful  of  the  morrow. 
It  is  almost  beyond  a  doubt  that,  if  we  find  our  way 
through  the  contingencies  of  this  Arctic  autumn,  we 
must  spend  our  winter  in  open  sea.  Many  miles  to 
the  south.  Captain  Back  passed  a  memorable  term  of 
vigil  and  exposure.  Here,  however,  I  do  not  antici- 
pate such  encounters  with  drifting  floes  as  are  spoken 
of  in  Hudson's  Bay.  The  centre  of  greatest  cold  is 
too  near  us  and  the  communication  with  open  sea  too 
distant. 

"I  was  in  the  act  of  writing  the  above,  when  a  start- 
ling sensation,  resembling  the  spring  of  a  wxdl-drawn 
bow,  announced  a  fresh  movement.  Running  on  deck, 
I  found  it  blowinur  a  furious  gale,  and  the  ice  ao-ain  in 
motion.     I  use  the  word  motion  inaccurately.     The 


jLil 


'/  ■:< 


Hl^ 


fi 


It 


;*•»(!  ^ 


I  ''] 


444 


IN     WELLINGTON     CHANNEL. 


field,  of  which  we  arc  a  part,  is  always  in  motion; 
that  is,  drifting  with  wind  or  current.  It  is  only  when 
other  ice  bears  down  upon  our  own,  or  our  own  ice  is 
borne  in  against  other  floes,  that  pressure  and  resist- 
ance make  us  conscious  of  motion. 

''  The  ice  was  again  in  motion.  The  great  expanse 
of  recently-formed  solidity,  already  bristling  with  hum- 
mocks, had  up  to  this  moment  resisted  the  enormous 
incidence  of  a  heavy  gale.  Suddenly,  however,  the 
pressure  increasing  beyond  its  strength,  it  yielded. 
The  twang  of  a  bow-string  is  the  only  thing  I  can 
compare  it  to.  In  a  single  instant  the  broad  field  was 
rent  asunder,  cracked  in  every  conceivable  direction, 
tables  ground  against  tables,  and  masses  piled  over 
masses.     The  sea  seemed  to  be  churning  ice. 

"  By  the  time  I  had  yoked  my  neck  in  its  serape, 
and  got  up  upon  deck,  the  ice  had  piled  up  a  couple 
of  feet  above  our  bulwarks.  In  less  than  another  min- 
ute it  had  toppled  over  again,  and  we  were  floating 
helplessly  in  a  confused  mass  of  broken  fragments. 
Fortunately  the  Rescue  remained  fixed ;  our  hawser 
was  fast  to  her  stern,  and  by  it  we  were  brought  side 
by  side  again.  Night  passed  anxiously;  i.  e.,  slept  in 
my  clothes,  and  dreamed  of  being  presented  to  Queen 
Victoria. 

I  am  reluctant  to  burden  my  pages  with  the  wild, 
but  scarcely  varied  incidents  of  our  continued  drift 
through  Wellington  Channel.  We  were  yet  to  be  fa- 
miliarized with  the  strife  of  the  ice-tables,  now  broken 
up  into  tumbling  masses,  and  piling  themselves  in 
angry  confusion  against  our  sides — now  fixed  in  cha- 
otic disarray  by  the  fields  of  new  ice  that  imbedded 
them  in  a  single  night — again,  perhaps,  opening  in 
treacherous  pools,  only  to  close  round  us  with  a  force 


FIGHTING    THE     ENEMY. 


445 


that  threatened  to  grind  our  brigs  to  powder.  I  shall 
have  occasion  enough  to  speak  of  these  things  here- 
after. I  give  now  a  few  extracts  from  my  journal; 
some  of  which  may  perhaps  have  interest  of  a  differ- 
ent cliaracter,  though  they  cannot  escape  the  sadden- 
ing monotony  of  the  scenes  that  were  about  us. 

I  begin  with  a  partial  break-up  that  occurred  on  the 
23d. 

"  September  23.  How  shall  I  describe  to  you  this 
pressure,  its  fearfulness  and  sul)limity !  Nothing  that 
I  liave  seen  or  read  of  approaches  it.  The  voices  of 
the  ice  and  the  heavy  swash  of  the  overturned  hum- 
mock-tables are  at  this  moment  dinning  in  my  ears. 
'  All  hands'  are  on  deck  fighting  our  grim  enemy. 

"  Fourteen  inches  of  solid  ice  thickness,  with  some 
lialf  dozen  of  snow,  are,  with  the  slow  uniform  advance 
of  a  mighty  propelling  power,  driving  in  upon  our  ves- 
sel. As  they  strike  her,  the  semi-plastic  mass  is  im- 
pressed with  a  mould  of  her  side,  and  then,  urged  on 
by  the  force  behind,  slides  upward,  and  rises  in  great 
vertical  tables.  When  these  attain  their  utmost  height, 
still  pressed  on  by  others,  they  topple  over,  and  form 
a  great  embankment  of  fallen  tables.  At  the  same 
tiiuO  others  take  a  downward  direction,  and  when 
pushed  on,  as  in  the  other  case,  form  a  similar  pile  un- 
derneath. The  side  on  which  one  or  the  other  of  these 
actions  takes  place  for  the  time,  varies  with  the  direc- 
tion of  the  force,  the  strength  of  the  opposite  or  resist- 
ing side,  the  inclination  of  the  vessel,  and  the  weight 
of  the  superincumbent  mounds ;  and  as  these  condi- 
tions follow  each  other  in  varving  succession,  the  ves- 
sel  l)ecomes  perfectly  iml)edded  after  a  little  while  in 
crumbling  and  fractured  ice. 

"  Perhaps  no  ^•es  el  has  ever  been  in  this  position 


m~ 


■'•^Vl\ 


j'<* 


i4 


h/a 


i^' 


446 


TRAPPING     FOXES. 


'Sr  ■    ( 


■.ii 


but  our  own.  With  matured  ice,  nothing  of  iron  or 
wood  could  resist  such  pressure.  As  for  the  British 
vessels,  their  size  would  make  it  next  to  impossible 
for  them  to  stand.  Back's  '  Winter'  is  the  only  thing 
I  have  read  of  that  reminds  me  of  our  present  predica- 
ment. No  vessel  has  ever  been  caught  by  winter  in 
these  waters. 

"  We  are  lifted  bodily  eighteen  inches  out  of  water. 
The  hummocks  are  reared  up  around  the  ship,  so  as 
to  rise  in  some  cases  a  couple  of  feet  above  our  bul- 
warks— five  feet  above  our  deck.  They  are  very  often 
ten  and  twelve  feet  high.  All  hands  are  out,  laboring 
with  picks  and  crowbars  to  overtuin  the  fragments 
that  threaten  to  overwhelm  us.  Add  to  this  darkness, 
snow,  cold,  and  the  absolute  destitution  of  surrounding 
shores. 

"  September  2(j.  The  hummocks  around  us  still  re- 
main without  apparent  motion,  heaped  up  like  snow- 
covered  barriers  of  street  rioters.  AVe  are  wedged  in 
a  huge  muss  of  tables,  completely  out  of  water,  cra- 
dled by  ice.  I  wish  it  woidd  give  us  an  even  keel. 
We  are  eighteen  inches  higher  on  one  quarter  than 
the  other. 

"  Afar  off,  skipping  from  hummock  to  hummock,  I 
saw  a  black  fox.  Poor  desolate  devil !  what  did  he, 
so  far  from  his  recorded  home,  seven  miles  from  even 
the  naked  snow-hills  of  this  dreary  wilderness?  In 
the  night-time  I  heard  him  bark.  They  set  a  trap  for 
him ;  but  I  secretly  placed  a  bigger  bait  outside,  with- 
out a  snare-loop  or  trigger.  In  the  morning  it  was 
gone,  and  the  dead-fall  had  follen  upon  no  fox.  How 
the  poor,  hungry  thing  must  have  enjoyed  his  supper! 

Our  position,  at  the  end  of  September,  thanks  to 
the  rapidly  increasing  cold,  gave  promise  of  a  certain 


FIXED     FOR     THE     WINTEU. 


447 


deorec  of  security  and  rest.  The  Advance  had  been 
driven,  by  the  superior  momentum  of  tlie  floes  that 
pressed  us  on  one  side,  some  two  liundred  and  fifty 
I'eet  into  the  mass  of  less  resisting  floes  on  the  other ; 
the  Rescue  meanwhile  remaining  stationary ;  and  the 
two  vessels  were  fixed  for  a  time  on  two  adjacent  sides 
of  a  rectangle,  and  close  to  each  other. 

We  felt  that  we  were  fixed  for  the  winter.  We  ar- 
rano;ed  our  rude  embankments  of  ice  and  snow  around 
us,  l)egan  to  deposit  our  stores  within  them,  and  got 
out  our  felt  covering  that  was  to  serve  as  our  winter 
roof  The  temperature  was  severe,  ranging  from  1°  5, 
and  4°  to  -f-  10°  :  but  the  men  worked  with  the  energy 
and  hope  too,  of  pioneer  settlers,  when  building  up 
their  first  home  in  our  Western  forests. 

"  October  1,  Tuesday.  To-day  the  work  of  breaking 
hold  commenced.  The  coal  immediately  under  the 
main  hatch  was  passed  up  in  buckets,  and  some  five 
tons  piled  upon  the  ice.  The  quarter-boats  were  hauled 
about  twenty  puces  from  our  port-bow,  and  the  sails 
covered  and  stacked  ;  in  short,  all  hands  were  at  work 
preparing  for  the  winter.  Little  had  we  calculated 
the  caprices  of  Arctic  ice. 

'About  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  a  large  crack  opened  nearly 
cast  and  west,  running  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see, 
sometimes  crossing  the  ice-pools,  and  sometimes  l)reak- 
ing  along  the  hummock  ridges.  The  sun  and  moon 
will  be  in  conjunction  on  the  3d ;  we  had  notice,  there- 
fore, that  the  spring  tides  are  in  action. 

"  Captain  Grilfm  had  l)een  dispatched  with  Mr.  Lov- 
ell  before  this,  to  establish  on  the  shore  the  site  for  a 
depot  of  provisions :  at  one  o'clock  a  signal  was  made 
to  recall  them.  At  two  P.M.,  seeing  a  seal,  I  ran  out 
upon  the  ice ;  but  losing  him,  was  tempted  to  continue 


448 


ICK    oim::;i.\<; 


ii 


w 


m  ^^ 


on  about  a  mile  to  tlie  eastward.  The  wiiul,  which 
had  been  from  the  westward  all  the  morning,  now 
(shifted  to  the  southward,  and  the  ice-tables  began  to 
be  again  in  motion.  The  humming  of  bees  and  up- 
heaving hunnnocks,  together  with  exploding  cracks, 
warned  me  back  to  the  vessel. 

"At  3.20,  while  we  were  at  dinner,  commentino- 
with  some  anxiety  upon  the  condition  of  things  witli- 
out,  that  unmistakable  monitor,  the  '  younj  pu/iplrs,' 
began.  Runing  on  deck,  we  found  a  large  fissure, 
nearly  due  north  and  south,  in  line  with  the  Advance. 
A  few  minutes  after,  the  entire  floe  on  our  starboard  side 
was  moving,  and  the  ice  breaking  up  in  every  direction. 

"  The  emergency  was  startling  enough.  All  hands 
turned  to,  ofhcers  included.  The  poor  Land  party,  re- 
turning at  this  moment,  tired  and  dinnerless,  went  to 
work  with  the  rest.  Vreeland  and  myself  worked  like 
horses.  Before  dark,  every  thing  was  on  board  except 
the  coal ;  and  of  this,  such  were  the  unwearied  eflbrts 
of  our  crew,  that  we  lost  but  a  ton  or  two. 

"  October  3.  I  write  at  midnight.  Leaving  the  deck, 
where  I  have  been  tramping  the  cold  out  of  my  joints, 
I  come  below  to  our  little  cabin.  As  I  open  the  hatch, 
every  thing  seems  bathed  in  dirty  milk.  A  cloud  of 
vapor  gushes  out  at  every  chink,  and,  as  the  cold  air 
travels  down,  it  is  seen  condensing  deeper  and  deeper. 
The  thermometer  above  is  at  7°  below  zero. 

"  The  brig  and  the  ice  around  her  are  covered  by  a 
strange  black  obscurity — not  a  mist,  nor  a  haze,  but  a 
peculiar,  waving,  palpable,  unnatural  darkness:  it  is 
the  frostrsmoke  of  Arctic  winters.  Its  range  is  very 
low.  Climbing  to  the  yard-arm,  some  thirty  feet  above 
the  deck,  I  looked  over  a  great  horizon  of  black  smoke, 
and  above  me  saw  the  blue  heavens  without  a  blemish. 


B  11 U  0  T I  N  G     SEAL. 


449 


"  October  4.  Tlie  open  pools  can  no  longer  bo  called 
pools;  they  are  great  rivers,  whose  hiiiniiioek-lined 
shoretf  look  dimly  through  the  haze.  Contrasted  with 
the  pure  white  snow,  their  waters  are  blaek  even  to 
inkiiiess,  and  the  silent  tides,  undisturbed  by  ripple  or 
wash,  pass  beneath  a  pasty  lihu  of  constantly  lorniing 
ice.  The  thermometer  is  at  10°.  Away  from  the 
slii[),  a  long  way,  I  walked  over  the  older  ice  to  a  spot 
where  the  open  river  was  as  wide  as  the  Delaware. 
Here,  after  some  crevico-jumping  and  tiddy-hcnder 
crossing,  I  set  myself  behind  a  little  rampart  of  hum- 
mocks, watching  for  seals. 

"  As  I  watched,  the  smoke,  the  frost-smoke,  came 
down  in  wreaths,  like  the  lambent  tongues  of  burning 
turpentine  seen  without  a  blaze.  I  was  soon  enveloped 
in  crapy  mist. 

"  To  shoot  seal,  one  must  practice  the  Esquimaux 
tactics  of  much  patience  and  complete  innnobility.  It 
in  no  fun,  1  assure  you  after  full  experience,  to  sit  mo- 
tionless and  noiseless  as  a  statue,  with  a  cold  iron 
musket  in  your  hands,  and  the  thermometer  10°  below 
zero.  But  by-and-by  I  was  rewarded  l)y  seeing  some 
overgrown  Greenland  calves  come  within  shot.  I 
missed.  After  another  hour  of  cold  expectation,  they 
came  again.  Very  strange  are  these  seal.  A  counte- 
nance between  the  dog  and  the  mild  African  ape — an 
expression  so  like  that  of  humanity,  that  it  makes 
[iun-murderors  hesitate.  At  last,  at  long  shot,  I  hit 
one.     God  forgive  me  ! 

"  October  6,  Sunday.  A  dismal  day ;  the  wind  howl- 
ing, and  the  snow,  fine  as  flour,  drifting  into  every 
chink  and  cranny.  The  cold  quite  a  nuisance,  although 
the  mercury  is  up  again  to  -\-G°.  It  is  blowing  a  gale, 
What  if  the  floe^  in  which  we  are  providentially  glued. 


^\^ 


I 


("ifl^': 


*  '.' 


;a\>  ij 


m 


i 


P* 


450 


AGAIN     I)  U  I  F  T  I  N  O  . 


shouM  Liiko  it  into  its  hoad  to  break  off,  and  carry  us 
on  a  cniiso  bc'lbre  the  wind ! 

"  12  Midnij^lit.  Tlioy  report  us  adrift.  Wind  a  '^ah 
from  tlie  nortliward  and  westward.  An  odd  cniiso 
this!  The  Anieriean  expedition  fast  in  a  liiini)  of  ice 
about  as  ])ig  as  WashinL,^ton  Scjuare,  and  driving,  like 
the  shanty  on  a  raft,  before  a  howling  gale. 

"  October  8.  To  day  seemed  like  a  wave  of  the  hand- 
kerchief from  our  receding  summer.  Winter  is  in  every 
thing.  Yet  the  skies  came  back  to  us  with  warm  ochres 
and  pinks,  and  the  sun,  albeit  from  a  lowly  altitude, 
shone  out  in  fall  brightness.  It  was  a  mockery  of 
warmth,  howcvci',  scarcely  worthy  the  unpretending 
sincerity  of  the  great  planet ;  for  the  mercury,  exposed 
to  the  full  radiance  of  his  deceitful  glare,  rose  l)ut  two 
degrees  from  -|-7°  to  9°.  In  spite  of  thi.s,  the  day  wa.s 
bcautifid  to  remember,  as  a  type  of  the  sort  of  thhig 
which  we  once  shared  with  the  woild  from  which  we 
arc  shut  out;  a  parting  picture,  to  think  about  during 
the  long  night.  These  dark  days,  or  rather  the  dark 
day,  will  soon  be  on  us.  The  noon  shadows  of  our 
long  masts  almost  lose  themselves  in  the  distance. 

"A  little  white  fox  was  caught  alive  in  a  trap  this 
morning.  He  was  an  astute-visaged  little  scamp  ;  and 
although  the  chains  of  captivity,  made  of  spnn-yarn 
and  leather,  set  hardly  upon  him,  he  could  spare 
abundant  leisure  for  bear  bones  and  snow.  He  Avoukl 
drink  no  water.  His  cry  resembled  the  inter-parox- 
ysmal yell  of  a  very  small  boy  undergoing  spanking. 
The  note  came  with  an  impulsive  vehemence,  that 
expressed  not  only  fear  and  pain,  but  a  very  tolerable 
spice  of  anger  and  ill-temper.  . 

"  He  was  soon  reconciled,  however.  The  very  next 
day  ho  was  tame  enough  to  feed  from  the  hand,  and 


'S 


tiling 
ich  we 
;luring 
0  (lark 
of  oivc 
nee. 
ip  this 
) ;  and 
n-vavn 
spare 
would 
parox- 
nking. 
e,  that 
llcrable 

fy  next 
lid,  and 


TAMING     A     FOX 


451 


had  lost  all  that  startled  wildness  of  look  which  Im  sup- 
posc'il  to  characturizo  hi.s  tribe.  lie  was  o\  ideally  un- 
used to  man,  and  without  the  educated  instinct  of 
ili'dit.  Twice,  when  sulVered  to  escai)e  from  tiie  ves- 
sel,  he  was  caught  in  our  traps  the  wime  night.  In- 
deed, the  white  foxes  of  this  region — we  caught  moro 
than  thirty  of  them—seemed  to  look  at  us  with  more 
curiosity  than  fear.  They  would  come  directly  to  the 
shii)'s  side;  and,  though  startled  at  first  when  we  fired 
at  them,  so(m  came  back.  'J'hey  even  sull'crcd  us  to 
ap])roach  them  almost  within  reacli  of  the  hand,  ran 
around  us,  as  we  gave  the  halloo,  in  a  narrow  circle, 
but  stopped  as  soon  as  wo  Avore  still,  and  stared  us  in- 
quisitively in  the  face.  One  little  follow,  when  we  let 
him  loose  on  the  ice  after  keeping  him  prisoner  for  a 
day  or  two,  scampered  back  again  iucontinently  to  his 
cubby-hole  on  the  deck.  There  may  be  nuitter  of  re- 
flection for  the  naturalist  in  this.  Has  this  animal  no 
natural  enemy  but  famine  and  cold  ?  The  foxes  i^eased 
to  visit  us  soon  after  this,  owing  probal)ly  to  the  un- 
certain ice  between  us  and  the  shore  :  they  are  shrewd 
ice-mastors. 

We  remained  during  the  rest  of  this  month  icc-cra- 
dlcd.  and  driftiuf^  about  near  the  outlet  of  AVelllni'ton 
Channel.  Our  thoughts  turned  irresistibly  to  the 
broad  expanse  of  Lancaster  Sound,  wdiich  lay  wild  iind 
rugged  before  us,  and  to  the  increasing  probal)ility 
that  it  was  to  bo  our  field  of  trial  during  the  long  dark 
winter — perhaps  our  final  liome. 

AVith  this  feeling  came  an  increasing  desire  to  com- 
municate with  our  late  associates  of  Union  Bay.  I 
had  volunteered  some  weeks  before  to  make  this  trav- 
erse, and  had  busied  myself  witU  arrangements  to  car- 
ry it  out.     The  Rescue's  India-rubber  boat  was  to  car- 

27 


452 


A     PROPOSED     EXCURSION. 


ry  the  party  through  the  leads,  and,  once  at  tlie  shore, 
three  men  were  to  j)ress  on  with  a  light  tent  and  a 
few  days'  provisions.  The  project,  impracticable  per- 
haps from  the  first,  was  foiled  for  a  time  by  a  vexa- 
tious incident.  I  had  made  my  tent  of  thin  cotton 
cloth,  so  that  it  weighed,  when  completed,  but  four- 
teen pounds,  soaking  it  thoroughly  in  a  composition 
of  caoutchouc,  ether,  and  linseed  oil,  the  last  in  quan- 
tity. After  it  was  finished  and  nearly  dried,  I  wrap- 
ped it  up  in  a  dry  covering  of  coarse  muslin,  and  placed 
it  for  the  night  in  a  locked  closet,  at  some  distance 
from  the  cook's  galley,  where  the  temperature  was  be- 
tween 80°  and  90°.  In  the  morning  it  was  destroyed. 
The  wrapper  was  there,  retaining  its  fonn,  and  not 
discolored ;  but  the  outer  folds  of  the  tent  were  smok- 
ing; and,  as  I  unrolled  it,  fold  after  fold  showed  more 
and  more  marks  of  combustion,  till  at  the  centre  it 
was  absolutely  charred.  There  was  neither  flame  nor 
sjiark. 

The  moon  made  its  appearance  on  the  loth  of  Oc- 
tober. At  first  it  was  like  a  bonfire,  warming  up  the 
ice  with  a  red  glare ;  but  afterward,  on  the  15th,  when 
it  rose  to  the  height  of  4°,  it  silvered  the  hummocks 
and  frozen  leads,  and  gave  a  softened  lustre  to  the 
snow,  through  which  our  two  little  brigs  stood  out  in 
black  and  solitary  contrast.  The  stars  seemed  to  have 
lost  their  twinkle,  and  to  shine  with  concentrated 
brightness  as  if  through  gimlet-holes  in  the  cobalt  can- 
opy. The  frost-smoke  scarcely  left  the  field  of  view. 
1 1  generally  hung  in  wreaths  around  the  horizon ;  but 
it  sometimes  took  eccentric  forms ;  and  one  night,  I 
remember,  it  piled  itself  into  a  column  at  the  west,  and 
Aquila  flamed  above  it  like  a  tall  beacon-light. 


DRIFTING. 


453 


m\ 


nor 


The  moiitli  of  November  found  us  oscillating  still 
with  the  winds  and  currents  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Beechy  Island.  Helpless  as  we  were  among  the  float- 
ing masses,  we  began  to  look  upon  the  floe  that  car- 
ried us  as  a  protecting  barrier  against  the  approaches 
of  others  less  friendly ;  and  as  the  month  advanced, 
and  the  chances  increased  of  our  passing  into  the 
sound,  our  apprehensions  of  being  frozen  up  in  the 
heart  of  the  ice-pack  gave  place  to  the  opposite  fear 
of  a  continuous  drift. 

^'■November  29.  The  doubt  is  gone.  Our  floe,  ice- 
cradle,  safeguard,  has  been  thrown  round.  Its  eastern 
margin  is  grinding  its  way  to  the  northward,  and  the 
west  is  already  pointing  to  the  south.  Our  bow  is  to 
Baffin's  Bay,  and  we  are  traveling  toward  it.  So  far, 
ours  has  been  a  mysterious  journeying.  For  two 
months  and  more,  not  a  sail  has  fluttered  from  our 
frozen  spars ;  yet  we  have  passed  from  Lancaster 
Sound  into  the  highest  latitude  of  Wellington  Chan- 
nel, one  never  attained  before,  and  have  been  borne 
back  again  past  our  point  of  starting,  along  a  capri. 
ciously  varied  line  of  drift. 

"  On  deck ;  looming  up  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
haze,  land !  so  high  and  close  on  our  port  beam,  that 
we  felt  like  men  under  a  precipice.  We  could  see 
the  vertical  crevices  in  the  limestone,  the  recesses  con- 
trastinji  in  black  shadow.  What  land  is  this  ?  Is  it 
the  eastern  line  of  Cape  Riley,  or  have  we  reached 
Cape  Ricketts  ? 

"There  is  one  thing  tolerably  certain  :  the  Grinnell 
expedition  is  quite  as  likely  to  be  searched  for  here- 
after as  to  search.  Poor  Sir  John  Franklin !  this  night- 
drift  is  an  ugly  omen. 


m 


!fil  !    '' 


m 


■ii; 


V'\ 


H 


454 


THE    AURORA. 


"Do  you  remember,  in  the  Spanish  coasting  craft, 
down  about  Barcelona  and  the  Balearics,  the  queer 
little  pictures  of  Saint  Nicholas  we  used  to  see  pasted 
up  over  the  locker — a  sort  of  mythic  effigy,  which  the 
owner  looked  upon  pretty  much  as  some  of  our  old 
commodores  do  the  barometer,  a  mysterious  some- 
thing, which  he  sneers  at  in  fair  weather,  but  is  sure, 
in  the  strong  faith  of  ignorance,  to  appeal  to  in  foul ! 
Well,  very  much  such  a  Saint  Anthony  have  we  down 
in  the  cabin  here,  staring  us  always  in  the  face.  Not 
a  vermilion-daubed  puerility,  with  a  glory  in  Dutch 
leaf  stretching  from  ear  to  ear ;  but  a  good,  genuine, 
hearty  representative  of  English  flesh  and  blood,  a 
mouth  that  speaks  of  strong  energies  as  well  as  a 
kindly  heart,  and  an  eye — the  other  one  is  spoiled  in 
the  lithography — that  looks  stern  will.  Many  a  time 
in  the  night  have  I  discoursed  with  him,  as  he  looked 
out  on  me  from  his  gutta  percha  frame — '  Sir  John 
Franklin ;  presented  by  his  wife ;'  and  sometimes  I 
have  imagined  how  and  where  I  was  yet  to  shake  the 
glorious  old  voyager  by  the  hand.  I  see  him  now 
while  I  am  writing ;  his  face  is  darkened  by  the  lamp- 
smoke  that  serves  us  for  daylight  and  air,  and  he  seems 
almost  disheartened.  So  far  as  help  and  hope  of  it 
are  afloat  in  this  little  vessel,  Sir  John,  well  you  may 
be! 

"  It  is  Sunday :  we  have  had  religious  service  as 
usual,  and  after  it  that  relic  of  effete  absurdity,  the 
reading  of  the  '  Rules  and  Regulations.' 

"We  had  the  aurora  about  7  P.M.  The  thermom- 
eter at  —33°  and  falling ;  barometer,  Aneroid,  30*^.  "^ • 

^^  December  2.  Drifting  down  the  sound.  Every 
thing  getting  ready  for  the  chance  of  a  hurried  good- 
by  to  our  vessels.     Pork,  and  sugar,  and  bread  puf  up 


A    BREAK-UP. 


4:00 


in  small  bags  to  fling  on  the  ice.  Every  man  his 
knapsack  and  cliange  of  clothing.  Arms,  bear-knives, 
ammunition  out  on  deck,  and  sledges  loaded.  Yet 
this  thermometer,  at  —30°,  tells  us  to  stick  to  the  ship 
while  we  can. 

"  This  packing  up  of  one's  carpet-bag  in  a  hurry  re- 
quires a  mighty  discreet  memory.  I  have  often  won- 
dered that  seamen  in  pushing  off  from  a  wreck  left  so 
many  little  wants  unprovided  for ;  but  I  think  I  un- 
derstand it  now.  After  bestowing  away  my  boots, 
with  the  rest  of  a  walking  wardrobe,  in  a  snugly- 
lashed  bundle,  I  discovered  by  accident  that  I  had  left 
my  stockings  behind. 

"4  P.M.  Brooks  comes  down  while  we  are  dining 
to  say  we  are  driving  east  like  a  race-horse,  and  a 
crack  ahead:  'All  hands  on  deck!'  We  had  heard 
the  grindings  last  night,  and  our  floe  in  the  morning 
was  cut  down  to  a  diameter  of  three  hundred  vards: 
we  had  little  to  spare  of  it.  But  the  new  chasm  is 
there,  already  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  about  twenty-five 
paces  from  our  bows,  stretching  across  at  right  angles 
with  the  old  cleft  of  October  the  2d. 

"  Our  floe,  released  from  its  more  bulky  portion,  seems 
to  be  making  rapidly  toward  the  shore.  This,  how- 
ever, may  be  owing  to  the  separated  mass  having 
an  opposite  motion,  for  the  darkness  is  intense.  Our 
largest  snow-house  is  carried  away;  the  disconsolate 
little  cupola,  with  its  flag  of  red  bunting,  should  it  sur- 
vive the  winter,  may  puzzle  conjectures  for  our  En- 
glish brethren. 

"Mr.  Griffin  and  myself  walked  through  the  gloom 
to  the  seat  of  hummock  action  abeam  of  the  Rescue. 

The  next  fonr  days  were  IVill  of  excitement  and 
anxiety.     One  crack  after  another  passed  across  our 


i^^ 


'^4 


i 


^'iN 


i  '.l 


im 


456 


CRISIS. 


floe,  still  reducing  its  dimensions,  and  at  one  time 
bringing  down  our  vessel  again  to  an  even  keel.  An 
hour  afterward,  the  chasms  would  close  around  us  with 
a  sound  like  escaping  steam.  Again  they  v/ould  open 
under  some  mysterious  influence  ;  a  field  of  ice  from 
two  to  lour  inches  thick  would  cover  them ;  and  tiien, 
without  an  apparent  change  of  causes,  the  separated 
sides  would  come  together  with  an  explosion  like  a 
mortar,  craunching  the  newly-formed  field,  and  driving 
it  headlong  in  fragments  for  fifty  feet  upon  the  floe  till 
it  piled  against  our  bulwarks.  Every  thing  betokened 
a  crisis.  Sledges,  boats,  packages  of  all  sorts,  were  dis- 
posed in  order;  contingencies  were  met  as  they  ap- 
proached by  new  delegations  of  duty  ;  every  man  was 
at  work,  officer  and  seaman  alike  ;  for  necessity,  when 
it  spares  no  one,  is  essentially  democratic,  oven  on  ship- 
board. The  Rescue,  crippled  and  thrown  away  from 
us  to  the  further  side  of  a  chasm,  was  deserted,  and 
her  company  consolidated  with  ours.  Our  own  brig 
groaned  and  quivered  under  the  pressure  against  her 
sides.     I  give  my  diary  for  December  7. 

^^  December  7,  Saturday.  The  danger  which  sur- 
rounds us  is  so  immediate,  that  in  the  bustle  of  prep- 
aration for  emergency  I  could  not  spend  a  moment 
upon  my  journal.  Now  the  little  knapsack  is  made 
up  again,  and  the  blanket  sewed  and  strapped.  The 
little  home  Bible  at  hand,  and  the  ice-clothes  ready 
for  a  j  ump. 


Dec.  1. 


Uvc.  4. 


CRISIS. 


457 


"  The  above  is  a  rough  idea  of  our  hiist  three  days' 
positions  and  changes. 

"  Tlie  ice,  as  I  have  sketched  it,  December  7,  began 
to  close  at  11  A.M.,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  brig 
was  driven  toward  the  open  crack  of  December  4  (r). 
At  1  P.M.  this  closed  on  us  with  fearful  nipping. 

"  1  P.M.  Ran  on  deck.  The  ice  was  comparatively 
quiescent  when  I  attempted  to  write;  but  it  recoui- 
menced  with  a  steady  pressure,  which  must  soon  prove 
irresistible. 

My  journal  does  not  tell  the  story ;  but  it  is  worth 
noting,  as  it  illustrates  the  sedative  effect  of  a  protract- 
ed succession  of  hazards.  Our  brig  had  just  mounted 
the  tloe,  and  as  we  stood  on  the  ice  watching  her  vi- 
bration, it  seemed  so  certain  that  she  must  come  over 
on  her  beam-ends,  that  our  old  boatswain.  Brooks, 
called  out  to  "stand  from  under."  At  this  moment 
it  occurred  to  one  of  the  officers  that  the  fires  had  not 
been  put  out,  and  that  the  stores  remaining  on  board 
would  be  burned  by  the  falling  of  the  stoves.  8wiiig- 
ing  himself  back  to  the  deck,  and  rushing  below,  he 
found  two  persons  in  the  cabin ;  the  officer  who  had 
been  relieved  from  watch-duty  a  few  minutes  before, 
quietly  seated  at  the  mess-table,  and  the  steward  as 
quietly  waiting  on  him.  "You  are  a  meal  ahead  of 
me,''  he  said  ;  "  you  didn't  think  I.  was  going  out  upon 
the  it-e  without  my  dinner." 


m 


458 


A     It  A  C  E      OF     PALE     FACES. 


i  I. 


3   f 


'^  Dccembe?'  21,  Saturday.  To-day  at  noon  we  saw, 
dimly  looming  up  from  the  redness  of  the  soiitliorii 
horizon,  a  low  range  of  hills;  among  them  some  coiios 
of  great  height,  mountains  of  a  cJiaracter  diihu'ing  irom 
the  naked  table-lands  of  the  northern  coast.  The  land 
on  the  other  side  of  Croker's  Bay,  with  one  high  head- 
hind,  supposed  to  he  Cnpe  Warrender,  is  in  view. 
From  all  of  which  it  is  clear  that  we  are  drifting  reg- 
ularly on  toward  BafHii's  Bay. 

"An  opening  oc(;urred  last  night  in  the  ice  to  the 
north  ward.  It  is  not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  from 
uS,  a 'I  I  it  is  already  seventy  wide. 

''  U  i  i  men  are  hard  at  work  preparing  for  the  Christ- 
mas theatrt,  the  arrangements  exclusively  their  own. 
E  !  to  niono'v  is  a  day  more  welcome  than  Christmas 
— the  suistiti.'il  il  y  of  greatest  darkness,  from  which 
we  may  begin  to  date  our  returning  light.  It  makes 
a  man  feel  badly  to  see  the  faces  around  him  bleach- 
ing  into  waxen  paleness.  Until  to-day,  as  a  looking- 
glass  does  not  enter  into  an  Arctic  toilet,  I  thought  I 
was  the  exception,  and  out  of  delicacy  said  nothing 
about  it  to  my  comrades.  One  of  them,  introducing 
the  topic  just  now,  told  me,  with  an  utter  unconscious- 
ness of  his  own  ghostliness,  that  I  was  the  palest  of 
the  party.  So  it  is,  'All  men  think  all  men,'  &c. 
Why,  the  good  fellow  is  as  white  as  a  cut  potato !" 

In  truth,  we  were  all  of  us  at  this  time  undergoing 
chauges  unconsciously.  The  hazy  obscurity  of  the 
nights  we  had  gone  through  made  them  darker  than 
the  corresponding  nights  of  Parry.  The  complexions 
of  my  comrades,  and  my  own  too,  as  I  found  soon  after- 
ward, were  toned  down  to  a  peculiar  waxy  paleness. 
Our  eyes  were  more  recessed,  and  strangely  clear. 
Complaints  of  shortness  of  breath  became  general. 


T  HE     MIDNIGHT      O  F     T  II  E     Y  E  A  It , 


43'J 


^^Decemher  22,  Sunday.  The  solstice  ! — the  ini(hiight 
of  the  year  !  It  commences  with  a  new  niovemeut  in 
the  ice,  the  open  lead  ol' yesterday  piling  up  into  hum- 
mocks on  our  port-beam.     No  harm  done. 

"The  wind  is  from  the  west,  increasing  in  fresh- 
ness since  early  in  the  morning.  The  weather  over- 
cast ;  even  the  moon  unseen,  and  no  indications  of  our 
drift.  We  could  not  read  print,  not  even  large  news- 
piiper  type,  at  noonday.  We  have  been  unable  to  leave 
the  ship  unarmed  for  some  time  on  account  of  the 
bears.  We  remember  the  story  of  poor  Barentz,  one 
of  our  early  predecessors.  One  of  our  crew,  Blinn,  a 
phlegmatic  Dutchman,  walked  out  to-day  toward  the 
lead,  a  few  hundred  yards  oil',  in  search  of  a  seal-hole. 
Suddenly  a  seal  rose  close  by  him  in  the  sludge-ice: 
lie  raised  his  gun  to  fire  ;  and,  at  the  same  instant,  a 
large  bear  jumped  over  the  floe,  and  by  a  dive  followed 
the  seal.  Blinn's  musket  snapped.  He  was  glad  to 
get  on  board  again. 

'^December  25.  'Y"  Christmas  of  y'  Arctic  cruisers  I' 
Our  Christmas  passed  without  a  lack  of  the  good  things 
of  this  life.  '  Goodies'  we  had  galore  ;  but  that  best 
of  earthly  blessings,  the  comuiunion  of  loved  sympa- 
thies, these  Arctic  cruisers  had  not.  It  was  curious  to 
observe  the  depressing  influences  of  each  man's  home 
thoughts,  and  absolutely  saddening  the  effort  of  each 
man  to  impose  upon  his  neighbor  and  be  very  boon  and 
jolly.  We  joked  incessantly,  but  badly,  and  laughed 
incessantly,  but  badly  too  ;  ate  of  good  things,  and 
drank  up  a  moiety  of  our  Ileidsiek  ;  and  then  we  sang 
negro  songs,  wanting  only  tune,  measure,  and  harmony, 
but  abounding  in  noise ;  and  after  a  closing  bumper 
to  Mr.  Grinnell,  adjourned  with  creditable  jollity  from 
table  to  the  theatre. 


ii<     1 


Mf;-j; 


St:' 


u 


^ 


it 

11: 

■hH 

Ml 

B^ni 

If 

■Ihnh 

1 

u 

1 

II 

400 


CHRISTMAS     FROLICS. 


"It  was  on  deck,  of  course,  but  veiled  from  the  sky 
by  our  felt  covering.  A  large  ship's  ensign,  stretched 
from  the  caboose  to  the  bulwarks,  was  understood  to 
hide  the  stage,  and  certain  meat-casks  and  candle- 
boxes  represented  the  parquet.  The  thermomoter 
gave  us  —  G°  at  first;  but  the  favoring  elements  soon 
changed  this  to  the  more  comfortable  temperature  of 
-4°. 

"Never  had  I  enjoyed  the  tawdry  quackery  of  the 
stage  half  so  much.  The  theatre  has  always  been  to 
me  a  wretched  simulation  of  realities  ;  and  I  have  too 
little  sympathy  with  the  unreal  to  find  pleasure  in  it 
long.  Not  so  our  Arctic  theatre  :  it  was  one  continual 
frolic  from  beginning  to  end. 

"  The  '  Blue  Devils  :'  God  bless  us  !  but  it  was  very, 
very  funny.  None  knew  their  parts,  and  the  prompter 
could  not  read  glibly  enough  to  do  his  office.  Every 
thing,  whether  jocose,  or  indignant,  or  commonplace, 
or  pathetic,  was  delivered  in  a  high-tragedy  monotone 
of  despair ;  five  words  at  a  time,  or  more  or  less,  ac- 
cording to  the  facilities  of  the  prompting.  Megrim, 
with  a  pair  of  seal-skin  boots,  bestowed  his  gold  upon 
the  gentle  Annette  ;  and  Annette,  nearly  six  feet  high, 
received  it  with  mastodonic  grace.  Annette  was  an 
Irishman  named  Daly ;  and  I  might  defy  human  be- 
ing to  hear  her,  while  balanced  on  the  heel  of  her  boot, 
exclaim,  in  rich  masculine  brogue, '  Och,  feather !'  with- 
out roaring.  Bruce  took  the  Landlord,  Benson  was 
James,  and  the  gentle  Annette  and  the  wealthy  Me- 
grim were  taken  by  Messrs.  Daly  and  Johnson. 

"After  this  followed  the  Star  Spangled  Banner ;  then 
a  complicated  Marseillaise  by  our  French  cook,  Hen- 
ri ;  then  a  sailor's  hornpipe  by  the  diversely-talented 
Bruce  ;  the  orchestrii — Stewart,  playing  out  the  inter- 


THE    DRIFT. 


461 


vals  on  the  Jews-harp  from  the  top  of  a  lard-cask.  In 
fact,  we  were  very  happy  fellows.  We  had  had  a 
foot-race  in  the  morning  over  the  midni<jht  ice  for  three 
purses  of  a  flannel  shirt  each,  and  a  splicing  of  the 
main-brace.  The  day  was  night,  the  stars  shining 
feebly  through  the  mist. 

"  But  even  here  that  kindly  custom  of  Christmas- 
gifting  was  not  forgotten.  1  found  in  my  morning 
stocking  a  jack-knife,  symbolical  of  my  altered  looks, 
a  piece  of  Castile  soap — this  last  article  in  great  re- 
quest— a  Jews-harp,  and  a  string  of  beads!  On  the 
other  hand,  ]  prescribed  from  the  medical  stores  two 
bottles  of  Cognac,  to  protect  the  mess  from  indiges- 
tion. So  passed  Christmas.  Thermometer,  mini- 
mum, -16°;  maximum,  -7°.     Wind  west. 

^^December  28,  Saturday.  From  my  very  soul  do  1 
rejoice  at  the  coming  sun.  Evidences  not  to  be  mis- 
taken convince  me  that  the  health  of  our  crew,  never 
resting  upon  a  very  sound  basis,  must  sink  under  the 
continued  influences  of  darkness  and  cold.  The  tem- 
perature and  foulness  of  air  in  the  between-deck  Tar- 
tarus can  not  be  amended,  otherwise  it  would  be  my 
duty  to  urge  a  change.  Between  the  smoke  of  lamps, 
the  dry  heat  of  stoves,  and  the  fumes  of  the  galley,  all 
of  them  unintermitting,  what  wonder  that  we  grow 
feeble.  The  short  race  of  Christmas-day  knocked  up 
all  our  officers  except  Griffin.  It  pained  me  to  see  my 
friend  Lovell,  our  strongest  man,  fainting  with  the  ex- 
ertion. The  symptoms  of  scurvy  among  the  crew  are 
still  increasing,  and  becoming  more  general.  Faces 
are  growing  pale ;  strong  men  pant  for  breath  upon 
ascending  a  ladder  ;  and  an  indolence  akin  to  apathy 
seems  to  be  creeping  over  us.  I  long  for  the  light. 
Dear,  dear  sun,  no  wonder  you  are  worshiped ! 


ill 


f'Pjr 

11 

'♦4 

i| 

s-  1 

Ml 

n|M  li 

t  Wit 

1  ^N 


4G2 


IIKTUKNING     LKiHT. 


"  11.  Can  roiul  ordinary  ovor-si/od  print.  Started 
on  a  Avallv,  tlio  iirst  limo  lor  twenty-odd  days.  Saw 
the  g'reat  lead,  and  traveled  it  lor  a  couple  of  miles 
expanding  into  a  plain  of  recent  ico. 

*'M.  Passed  noon  on  the  ico.  CUm  read  diamond 
type.  Stars  of  the  Iirst  magnitude  only  visible.  Sat- 
urn  nuignilicont ! 

"1  r.M.  AVith  dillicnlty  read  largo  type.  The 
clouds  gathering  in  black  stratus  over  the  red  light 
to  the  south. 

"  2.  The  heavens  studded  with  stars  in  their  group- 
ings. Night  is  again  over  every  thing,  althougli  the 
minor  stars  are  not  yet  seen. 

"Since  the  first  of  this  month,  %ve  have  drifted  ia 
solitude  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  skirting  the 
norlhern  shores  of  Lancaster  Sound.  Baffin's  Bay  is 
ahead  <;f  us,  its  current  setting  strong  toward  the  south. 
AMiat  will  he  the  result  when  the  mighty  masses  of 
these  two  Arctic  seas  come  together !" 

1851,  January  1,  Wednesday.  The  first  day  of  ISol 
set  in  cold,  the  thermometer  at  —28°,  and  closing  at 
—31°.  AVe  celebrated  it  by  an  extra  dinner,  a  plum- 
cake  unfrosted  for  the  occasion,  and  a  couple  of  our  re- 
siduary bottles  of  wine.  But  there  was  no  joy  in  our 
merriment :  we  were  weary  of  the  night,  as  those  who 
watch  for  the  morning. 

It  was  not  till  the  od  that  the  red  southern  zone 
continued  long  enough  to  give  us  assurance  of  advanc- 
ing day.  Then,  for  at  least  three  hours,  the  twilight 
enabled  us  to  walk  without  stumbling.  I  had  a  feel- 
ing  of  racy  enjoyment  as  I  found  myself  once  more 
away  from  the  ship,  ranging  among  the  fioes,  and 
watching  the  rivalry  of  day  with  night  in  the  zenith. 
There  w^as  the  sunward  horizon,  with  its  evenly-dis- 


EIGHTH     OF    JANUARY. 


463 


tribiitetl  Lands  of  primitivo  colors,  bloiuling  softly  into 
tlio  clear  blue  overbead  ;  and  tben,  by  an  almost  niagio 
transition,  nigbt  occupying  tbo  \V(';4orn  sky.  Stars 
of  tbo  first  magnitude,  and  a  wandering  planet  bere 
and  tbere,  sbone  dimly  near  tlie  debatable  line  ;  but 
a  little  furtber  on  were  all  tlie  stars  in  tbeir  glory. 
Tlie  nortbern  firmament  bad  tbe  familiar  beauty  of  a 
pure  winter  nigbt  at  borne.  Tbe  Pleiades  glittered 
"like  a  swarm  of  fire-Hies  tangled  in  a  silver-braid," 
ami  tbe  great  stars  tbat  bang  about  tbe  lieads  of  Orion 
and  Taurus  were  as  intensely  brigbt  as  if  day  was  not 
looking  out  upon  tbein  from  tbe  otber  quarter  of  tbe 
sky.  1  bad  never  seen  nigbt  and  day  dividing  tbe 
hemispbere  so  beautifully  between  tbeiri. 

On  tbe  ytli  we  luid,  of  course,  our  national  festivi- 
ties,  and  remembered  fresbly  tbe  hero  who  consecrated 
tlie  day  in  our  annals.  Tbe  evening  brought  tbe  the- 
atricals  again,  with  extempore  interludes,  and  a  hearty 
splicing  of  tbe  main-brace.  It  was  something  new, 
and  not  thoroughly  gladsome,  this  commemoration  of 
the  victory  at  New  Orleans  under  a  Polar  sky.  There 
were  men  not  two  hundred  miles  from  us,  now  our 
partners  in  a  nobler  contest,  who  had  bled  in  this  very 
battle.  But  we  made  the  best  of  the  occasion  ;  and 
if  others  some  degrees  further  to  the  south  celebrated 
it  more  warmly,  we  had  the  thermometer  on  our  side, 
with  its  -20°,  a  normal  temperature  for  the  "  hmda- 
tur  et  alget." 

But  the  sun  was  now  gradually  coming  up  toward 
the  horizon  :  every  day  at  meridian,  and  for  an  hour 
before  and  after,  we  were  able  to  trace  our  progress 
eastward  by  some  known  headland.  We  had  passed 
Cape  Castlereagh  and  Cape  Warrender  in  succession, 
and  were  close  on  the  meridian  of  Cape  Osborn.     Tbe 


i 


r-\ 


mti 


»t\i>.t 


401 


OUR     FLOE. 


*■     ! 


ilisiuptious  of  the  ico  which  \vp  had  oncountt'rod  tto 
far,  had  always  heeii  at  tho  periods  of  spriiif^'-tidu.  Tlio 
sun  and  moon  wore  in  conjunction  on  tlio  21st  of  Do- 
cemhor ;  and,  adopting  Captain  Parry's  observation, 
that  tho  greatest  etllux  was  always  within  live  fivs 
after  the  new  moon,  we  liad  looked  with  some  an 
to  the  closing  weeks  of  that  month.  But  they  had 
gone  by  without  any  unusual  movement;  and  there 
needed  only  an  equally  kind  visitation  of  the  January 
moon  to  give  us  our  tinai  struggle  with  the  Eaihn's 
Bay  ice  by  daylight. 

Yet  I  had  remarked  that  the  southern  shore  of  Laii- 
caster  ti^^ound  extended  much  further  out  to  the  east- 
ward than  the  northern  did  ;  and  1  had  argued  that 
we  might  begin  to  feel  the  current  of  Ballin's  Bay  in 
a  very  few  days,  though  we  were  still  considerably 
to  the  west  of  a  line  drawn  from  one  cape  to  the  ot'"^r. 
The  question  received  its  solution  without  waitii 
the  moon. 

I  give  from  my  journal  our  position  in  the  ice  on  the 
11th  of  January : 

"''January  11,  Saturday.  The  floe  in  w^hicli  we  are 
now  imbedded  has  been  steadily  increasing  in  solid- 
ity for  more  than  a  month.  Since  the  8th  of  Decem- 
ber, not  a  fracture  or  collision  has  occurred  to  mar  its 
growth.  The  eye  can  not  embrace  its  extent.  Even 
from  the  mast-head  you  look  over  an  unbounded  ex- 
panse of  naked  ice,  bristling  with  contorted  spires,  and 
ridged  by  elevated  axes  of  hummocks.  The  land  on 
either  side  rises  above  our  icy  horizon  ;  but  to  the  east 
and  west,  there  is  no  such  interception  to  pur  wintery- 
ness. 

"The  brig  remains  as  she  was  tossed  at  our  provi- 
dential escape  of  last  month,  her  nose  burrowing  in  the 


]V'. 


TIIK    ADVANL'K    IN    FKIIUUAUY. 


't 


M 


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WIXIEU    IX    Tilt;    I'ACK. 


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MPt* 


Bi 


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!.    S  flSt'Rl 


ti^'i' 


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InflHfl' 

■ 

MWfiS-^'',^j 

t  . 

lIlP 

wK 

COMMOTION    OF     THE     ICE. 


4G7 


snow,  and  her  stern  perched  high  above  the  rubbish. 
Walking  deck  is  an  up  and  down  hill  work.  She  re- 
tains, too,  her  list  to  starboard.  Her  bare  sides  have 
been  banked  over  again  with  snow  to  increase  the 
warmth,  and  a  formidable  flight  of  nine  ice-block  steps 
admits  us  to  the  door- way  of  her  M^inter  cover.  The 
stores,  hastily  thrown  out  from  the  vessel  when  we 
expected  her  to  go  to  pieces,  are  still  upon  the  little 
remnant  of  old  tioe  on  our  port  or  northern  side.  The 
Kescne  is  some  hundred  yards  off  to  the  south  of  east." 

The  next  day  thin'rs  underwent  a  change.     The 
morning  was  a  misty  one,  giving  us  just  light  enough 
to  make  out  objects  that  were  near  the  ship ;  the  wind 
westerly,  as  it  had  been  for  some  time,  freshening  per- 
haps to  a  breeze.     The  day  went  on  quietly  till  noon, 
when  a  sudden  shock  brought  us  all  up  to  the  deck. 
Running  out  upon  the  ice,  we  found  that  a  crack  had 
opened  between  us  and  the  Rescue,  and  was  extending 
in  a  zigzag  course  from  the  northward  and  eastward 
to  the  southward  and  westward.    At  one  o'clock  it  had 
become  a  chasm  eight  feet  in  width ;  and  as  it  contin- 
ued to  widen,  we  observed  a  distinct  undulation  of  the 
water  about  its  edges.     At  three,  it  had  expanded 
into  a  broad  sheet  of  water,  filmed  over  by  young  ice, 
through  which  the  portions  of  the  floe  that  bore  our 
two  vessels  began  to  move  obliquely  toward  each  other. 
Night  closed  round  us,  with  the  chasm  reduced  to  forty 
yards  and  still  narrowing;  the  Rescue  on  her  port- 
bow,  two  hundred  yards  from  her  late  position ;  the 
wind  increasing,  and  the  thermometer  at  —19°. 

My  journal  for  the  next  day  was  written  at  broken 
intervals;  but  I  give  it  without  change  of  form: 

^^ January  13,  4  A.M.  All  hands  have  been  on  deck 
since  one  o'clock,  strapped  and  harnessed  for  a  fare- 


1 ", 


lil«  ,i« 


t 


''l\ 


f 


i:b 


MM\ 


i«-*r 


r..^i 


4G8 


COMMOTION    OF    THE     ICE. 


well  marcli.  The  water-lane  of  yesterday  is  covered 
by  ibur-inch  ice  ;  the  floes  at  its  margin  more  than 
three  I'eet  thick.  These  have  been  closing  for  some 
time  by  a  sliding,  grinding  movement,  one  upon  the 
other;  but  every  now  and  then  coming  together  more 
directly,  the  thinner  ice  clattering  between  them,  and 
marking  their  new  outline  with  hummock  ridges. 
They  have  been  fairly  in  contact  for  the  last  hour :  we 
feel  their  pressure  extending  to  us  through  the  elastic 
floe  in  which  we  are  cradled.  There  is  a  quivering, 
vibratory  hum  about  the  timbers  of  the  brig,  and  ev- 
ery now  and  then  a  harsh  rubbing  creak  along  her 
sides,  like  waxed  cork  on  a  mahogany  table.  The 
hununocks  are  driven  to  within  four  feet  of  our  coun- 
ter, and  stand  there  looming  fourteen  feet  high  through 
the  darkness.  It  has  been  a  horrible  commotion  so 
far,  with  one  wild,  booming,  agonized  note,  made  up 
of  a  thousand  discords  ;  and  now  comes  the  deep  still- 
ness after  it,  tlie  mysterious  ice-pulse,  as  if  the  ener- 
gies were  gathering  for  another  strife. 

"  6i  A.M.  Another  pulse !  the  vibration  greater  than 
we  have  ever  yet  had  it.  If  our  little  brig  had  an  an- 
imated centre  of  sensation,  and  some  rude  force  had 
torn  a  nerve-trunk,  she  could  not  feel  it  more  —  slift 
fairly  shudders.  Looking  out  to  the  north,  this  ice 
seems  to  heave  up  slowly  against  the  sky  in  black 
hills ;  and  as  we  watch  thein  rolling  toward  us,  the 
hills  sink  again,  and  a  distorted  plain  of  rubbish  melts 
before  us  into  the  night.  Ours  is  the  contrast  of  ut- 
ter helplessness  with  illimitable  power. 

'*  9.50  A.M.  Brooks  and  myself  took  advantage  of 
the  twilight  at  nine  o'clock  to  cross  the  hummocky 
fields  to  the  Rescue.  I  can  not  convey  an  impression 
of  the  altered  aspects  of  the  floe.     Our  frozen  lane  has 


ICE     COMMOTION.. 


4G9 


disappeared,  and  along  the  line  of  its  recent  course  the 
ice  is  heaped  up  in  blocks,  tables,  lumps,  powder,  and 
rubbish,  often  fifteen  feet  high.  Snow  covered  the 
decks  of  the  little  vessel,  and  the  disorder  about  it 
spoke  sadly  of  desertion.  Foot-prints  of  foxes  were 
seen  in  every  imaginable  corner ;  and  near  the  little 
hatchway,  where  we  had  often  sat  in  comfortable 
good-fellowship,  the  tracks  of  a  large  bear  had  broken 
the  snow  crust  in  his  efforts  to  get  below. 

"The  Rescue  has  met  the  pressure  upon  her  port- 
bow  and  fore-foot.  Her  bowsprit,  already  maimed  by 
her  adventure  off  Griffith's  Island,  is  now  completely 
forced  up,  broken  short  off  at  the  gammoning.  The 
ice,  after  nipping  her  severely,  has  piled  up  round  her 
three  feet  above  the  bulwarks.  We  had  looked  to  her 
as  our  first  asylum  of  retreat ;  but  that  is  out  of  the 
question  now ;  she  can  not  rise  as  we  have  done,  and 
any  action  that  would  peril  us  again  must  bear  her 
down  or  crush  her  laterally. 

"  The  ice  immediately  about  the  Advance  is  broken 
into  small  angular  pieces,  as  if  it  had  been  dashed 
against  a  crag  of  granite.  Our  camp  out  on  the  floe, 
with  its  reserve  of  provisions  and  a  hundred  things  be- 
sides, memorials  of  scenes  we  have  gone  through,  or  ap- 
pliances and  means  for  hazards  ahead  of  us,  has  been 
carried  away  bodily.  My  noble  specimen  of  the  Arc- 
tic  bear  is  floating,  with  an  escort  of  bread  barrels, 
nearly  half  a  mile  off. 

"The  thermometer  records  only  — 17°  ;  but  it  blows 
at  times  so  very  fiercely  that  I  have  never  felt  it  so 
cold :  five  men  were  frost-bitten  in  the  attempt  to  save 
our  stores. 

"  9  P.M.  We  have  had  no  renewal  of  the  pressure 

since  half  past  six  this  morning.     We  are  turning  in; 

28 


:      II) 

1 


t?i' 


M! 


'I 


il  ■»!  11  j 


•■•TS 


;fe! 


i'f   v.l 


:Vs.' 


'i! 


11 

11 

H 

m:4^  '■ 

H 

i::l^  :'■ 

1 

i 

s 

lit  ''' 

ft 


iiPIV 


470 


ICE    COMMOTION. 


the  wind  blowing  a  fresh  breeze,  weather  misty,  ther- 
mometer at  —23°." 

The  night  brought  no  further  change ;  but  toward 
morning  the  cracks,  that  formed  before  this  a  sort  of 
net- work  all  about  the  vessel,  began  to  open.  The 
cause  was  not  apparent :  the  wind  had  lulled,  and  we 
saw  no  movement  of  the  floes.  We  had  again  the 
same  voices  of  complaint  from  the  ship,  but  they  were 
much  feebler  than  yesterday ;  and  in  about  an  hour 
the  ice  broke  up  all  round  her,  leaving  an  open  space 
of  about  a  foot  to  port,  indented  with  the  mould  of  her 
form.  The  brig  was  loose  once  more  at  the  sides ;  but 
she  remained  suspended  by  the  bows  and  stern  from 
hummocks  built  up  like  trestles,  and  canted  forward 
still  five  feet  and  a  quarter  out  of  level.  Every  thing 
else  was  fairly  afloat:  even  the  India-rubber  boat, 
which  during  our  troubles  had  found  a  resting-place 
on  a  sound  projection  of  the  floe  close  by  us,  had  to 
be  taken  in. 

This,  I  may  say,  was  a  fearful  position ;  but  the 
thermometer,  at  a  mean  of  —  23°  and  —  24°,  soon 
brought  back  the  solid  character  of  our  floating  raft. 
In  less  than  two  days  every  thing  about  us  was  as 
firmly  fixed  as  ever.  But  the  whole  topography  of  the 
ice  was  changed,  and  its  new  configuration  attested 
the  violence  of  the  elements  it  had  been  exposed  to. 
Nothing  can  be  conceived  more  completely  embodying 
inhospitable  desolation.  From  mast-head  the  eye  trav- 
eled wearily  over  a  broad  champaigne  of  undulating 
ice,  crowned  at  its  ridges  with  broken  masses,  like 
breakers  frozen  as  they  rolled  toward  the  beach.  Be- 
yond these,  you  lost  by  degrees  the  distinctions  of  sur- 
face. It  was  a  great  plain,  blotched  by  dark,  jagged 
shadows,  and  relieved  only  here  and  there  by  a  hill 


ig  raft. 


1  C  K     COMMOTIO  N. 


471 


of  upheaved  rubbish.  Still  further  in  the  distunc'e 
came  an  unvarying  uniformity  of  shade,  cutting  with 
saw-toothed  edge  against  a  desohite  sky. 

Yet  there  needed  no  after-survey  of  the  ice-fieUl  to 
prove  to  us  what  majestic  forces  had  been  at  work 
upon  it.  At  one  time  on  the  13th,  the  hummock- 
ridge  astern  advanced  with  a  steady  march  upon  the 
vessel.  Twice  it  rested,  and  advanced  again — a  dense 
wall  of  ice,  thirty  feet  broad  at  the  base  and  twelve 
feet  high,  tumbling  huge  fragments  from  its  crest,  yet 
increasing  in  mass  at  each  new  effort.  We  had  ceased 
to  hope ;  when  a  merciful  interposition  arrested  it,  so 
close  against  our  counter  that  there  was  scarcely  room 
for  a  man  to  pass  between.  Half  a  minute  of  progress 
more,  and  it  would  have  buried  us  all.  As  we  drifted 
along  five  months  afterward,  this  stupendous  memento 
of  controlling  power  was  still  hanging  over  our  stern. 

We  had  lost  all  indications  of  a  shore,  and  had  ob- 
viously passed  within  the  influences  of  Baffin's  Bay. 
We  were  on  the  meridian  of  75°;  yet,  though  the  re- 
cejit  commotions  could  be  referred  to  nothing  else  but 
the  conflict  of  the  two  currents,  we  had  made  very 
little  southing,  if  any,  and  had  seen  no  bergs.  But  on 
the  14tli  the  wind  edged  round  a  little  more  to  the 
northward,  and  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
15tli  we  could  hear  a  squeezing  noise  among  the  ice- 
fields in  that  direction.  By  this  time  we  had  become 
learned  interpreters  of  tlie  ice- voices.  Of  course,  wo 
renewed  our  preparations  for  whatever  might  be  com- 
ing. Every  man  arranged  his  knapsack  and  bhmket- 
bag  over  again  with  the  practiced  discretion  of  an  ex- 
pert. Our  extra  clothing  sledge,  carefully  repacked, 
was  made  free  on  deck.  The  India-rubber  boat,  only 
useful  in  this  solid  waste  for  crossing  occasional  chasms, 
was  launched  out  upon  the  ice  for  the  third  time. 


mmM 


11^ 


■:»i.;;iA^i' 


Jt*"!?!* 


r'^t: 


472 


THE     DOG-STAB. 


Ji: 


P' 


i* 


The  appearances  which  heralded  the  sun's  return 
had  a  degree  of  interest  for  us  which  it  is  not  easy  to 
express  in  words.  I  have  referred  more  than  once  al- 
ready  to  the  effects  of  the  long-continued  night  on  the 
health  of  our  crowded  ship's  company.  It  was  even 
more  painful  to  notice  its  influence  on  their  temper  and 
spirits.  Among  the  officers  this  was  less  observable. 
Our  mess  seemed  determined,  come  what  niiglit,  to 
maintain  toward  each  other  that  honest  courtesy  of 
manner,  which  those  who  have  sailed  on  long  voyages 
together  know  to  be  the  rarest  and  most  difficult  proof 
of  mutual  respect.  There  were  of  course  seasons 
when  each  had  his  home  thoughts,  and  revolved  per- 
haps the  growing  probabilities  that  some  other  Arctic 
search  party  might  seek  in  vain  hereafter  for  a  memo- 
rial of  our  own  ;  yet  these  were  never  topics  of  con- 
versation. I  do  not  remember  to  have  been  saddened 
by  a  boding  word  during  all  the  trials  of  our  cruise. 

With  the  men,  however,  it  was  different.  More  de- 
ficient in  the  resources  of  education,  and  less  restrained 
by  conventional  usages  or  the  principle  of  honor  from 
communicating  to  each  other  what  they  felt,  all  sym- 
pathized in  the  imaginary  terrors  which  each  one  con- 
jured up. 

We  were  called  up  one  evening  by  the  deck-watch 
to  see  for  ourselves  a  "  ball  of  fire  floating  up  and  down 
above  the  ice-field."  It  was  there  sure  enough,  a  disk 
of  reddish  flame,  varying  a  little  in  its  outline,  and 
flickering  in  the  horizon  like  a  revolving  light  at  a  dis- 
tance.  I  was  at  first  as  much  puzzled  as  the  men; 
but  glancing  at  Orion,  I  soon  saw  that  it  was  nothing 
else  than  our  old  dog-star  friend,  bright  Sirius,  come 
back  to  us.  Refraction  had  raised  him  above  the  hills, 
so  as  to  bring  him  to  view  a  little  sooner  than  we  ex- 
pected.    His  color  was  rather  more  lurid  than  when 


APPROACH    OF    DAY. 


473 


he  left  us,  and  the  refraction,  besides  distorting  his  out- 
line, seemed  to  have  given  him  the  same  oblateness  or 
horizontal  expansion  which  we  observe  in  the  dislcs 
of  the  larger  planets  when  nearing  the  horizon. 

For  some  days  the  sun-clouds  at  the  south  had  been 
changing  their  character.  Their  edges  became  better 
defined,  their  extremities  dentated,  their  color  deeper 
as  well  as  warmer;  and  from  the  spaces  between  the 
lines  of  stratus  burst  out  a  blaze  of  glory,  typical  of  the 
longed-for  sun.  He  came  at  last :  it  was  on  the  29th. 
My  journal  must  tell  the  story  of  his  welcoming,  at 
the  hazard  of  its  seeming  extravagance  :  I  am  content 
that  they  shall  criticise  it  who  have  drifted  for  more 
than  twelve  weeks  under  the  night  of  a  Polar  sky. 

^^  January  29.  Going  on  deck  after  breakfast  at  eight 
this  morning,  I  found  the  dawning  far  advanced.  The 
whole  vault  was  bedewed  with  the  coming  day ;  and, 
except  Capella,  the  stars  were  gone.  The  southern 
horizon  was  clear.  We  were  certain  to  see  the  sun, 
after  an  absence  of  eighty-six  days.  It  had  been  ar- 
ranged on  board  that  all  hands  should  give  him  three 
cheers  for  a  greeting;  but  I  was  in  no  mood  to  join 
the  sallow- visaged  party.  I  took  my  gun,  and  walked 
over  the  ice  about  a  mile  away  from  the  ship  to  a  sol- 
itary spot,  where  a  great  big  hummock  almost  hem- 
med  me  in,  opening  only  to  the  south.  There,  Par- 
see  fashion,  I  drank  in  the  rosy  light,  and  watched  the 
horns  of  the  crescent  extending  themselves  round  to- 
ward the  north.  There  was  hardly  a  breath  of  wind, 
with  the  thermometer  at  only  —19°,  and  it  was  easy, 
therefore,  to  keep  warm  by  walking  gently  up  and 
down.  I  thought  over  and  named  aloud  every  one  of 
our  little  circle,  F.  and  M.,  T.  and  P.,  B.  and  J.,  and 
our  dear,  bright  little  W. ;  wondered  a  while  whether 


•   \<\\  ;•l^    f\ 


\  .  f 


rmh 


m^s 


|i 


474 


SUNRISE,  NOON,  AND  SUNSET. 


there  were  not  some  more  to  be  remembered,  and  called 
up  one  friend  or  relative  after  another,  but  always  came 
back  to  the  circle  I  began  with. 

"  Very  soon  the  deep  crimson  blush,  lightening  into 
a  focus  of  incandescent  white,  showed  me  that  the 
hour  was  close  at  hand.  Mounting  upon  a  crag,  I  saw 
the  crews  of  our  one  ship  formed  in  line  upon  the  ioe. 
My  mind  was  still  tracing  the  familiar  chain  of  home 
affections,  and  the  chances  that  this  one  or  the  other 
of  its  links  might  be  broken  already.  I  bethought  me 
of  the  Sortes  VirgiliansE  of  my  school-boy  days  :  I  took 
a  piece  of  candle  paper  pasteboard,  cut  it  with  my 
bowie-knife  into  a  little  carbine  target,  and  on  one 
side  of  this  marked  all  our  names  in  pencil,  and  on  the 
other  a  little  star.  Presently  the  sun  came :  never, 
till  the  grave-sod  or  the  ice  covers  me,  may  I  forego 
this  blessing  of  blessings  again  !  I  looked  at  him 
thankfully  with  a  great  globus  in  my  throat.  Then 
came  the  shout  from  the  ship — three  shouts — cheering 
the  sun.  I  fixed  my  little  star-target  to  the  floe,  walk- 
ed backward  till  it  became  nearly  invisible  ;  and  then, 
just  as  the  completed  orb  fluttered  upon  the  horizon, 
fired  my  *  salutJ  I  cut  M  in  half,  and  knocked  the  T 
out  of  Tom.  They  shall  draw  lots  for  it  if  ever  I  get 
home  ;  for  many,  many  years  may  come  and  go  again 
before  the  shot  of  an  American  rifle  signalizes  in  the 
winter  of  Baffin's  Bay  the  conjunction  of  sunrise,  noon- 
day, and  sunset. 

^'January  '60.  The  crew  determined  to  celebrate  'El 
regresado  del  sol,'  which,  according  to  old  Costa,  our 
Mahonese  seaman,  was  a  more  holy  day  than  Christ- 
mas or  All-Saints.  Mr.  Bruce,  the  diversely  talented, 
favored  us  with  a  new  line  of  theatrical  exhibition,  a 
divertissement  oMome&tic  composition,  'The Country- 


never, 


THE    PLAY.  475 

man's  first  Visit  to  Town  ;'  followed  by  a  pantomime. 
I  copy  the  play-bill  from  the  original  as  it  was  tacked 
against  the  main-mast : 

ARCTIC  THEATRE. 

To  be  performed,  on  the  night  of  Thursday,  the  30th  day  of 
January,  the  Comic  Play  of  the  Countryman.  After  which,  a 
Pantomime. 

To  begin  with 
A  Song By  R.  Bruce. 

THE  OOUNTRYISAN. 

Countryman R.  Baggs. 

Landlady C.  Berry. 

Servant T.  Dunning. 

FANTOraiME. 

Harlequin James  Johnson. 

Old  Man R.  Bruce. 

Rejected  Lover A.  Canot. 

Columbine James  Smith. 

Dcors  to  be  opened  at  8  o'clock.     Curtain  to  rise  a  quarter  past  8  punctually 
No  admittance  to  Children ;  and  no  Ladies  admitted  without  an  escort. 

Stage  Manager, 

S.  BENJAMIN. 

The  strictest  order  will  be  observed  both  inside  and  outside. 

We  sat  down  as  usual  on  the  preserved-meat  boxes, 
which  were  placed  on  deck,  ready  strapped  and  beck- 
eted  [nautice  for  trunk-handled)  for  flinging  out  upon 
the  ice.  The  affair  was  altogether  creditable,  how- 
ever, and  every  body  enjoyed  it.  Here  is  an  outline 
of  the  pantomime,  after  the  manner  of  the  newspapers. 
An  old  man  (Mr.  Bruce)  possessed  mysterious,  semi- 
magical,  and  wholly  comical  influence  over  a  rejected 


'  % 


H 


47^ 


THE     PLAY. 


lover  (M.  Auguste  Canot,  ship's  cook),  and  Columbine 
(Mr.  Smith)  exercised  the  same  over  the  old  man. 
Harlequin  (Mr.  Johnson),  however,  by  the  aid  of  a 
split-shingle  wand  and  the  charms  of  his  "  motley 
wear,"  secures  the  affections  of  Columbine,  cajoles  the 
old  man,  persecutes  the  forlorn  lover,  and  carries  off 
the  prize  of  love ;  the  fair  Columbine,  who  had  been 
industriously  chewing  tobacco,  and  twirling  on  the 
heel  of  her  boot  to  keep  herself  warm,  giving  him  a 
sentimental  kiss  as  she  left  the  stage.  A  still  more 
sentimental  song,  sung  in  seal-skin  breeks  and  a  "  nor- 
wester,^^  and  a  potation  all  round  of  hot-spiced  rum 
toddy,  concluded  the  entertainments. 

"  It  is  Washington's  birth-day,  when  '  hearts  should 
be  glad;'  but  we  have  no  wine  for  the  dinner-table, 
and  are  too  sick  for  artificial  merriment  without  it. 
Our  crew,  however,  good  patriotic  wretches,  got  up  a 
theatrical  performance,  '  The  Irish  Attorney ;'  Pierce 
O'Hara  taken  by  the  admirable  Bruce,  our  Crichton. 
The  ship's  thermometer  outside  was  at  —46°.  Inside, 
among  audience  and  actors,  by  aid  of  lungs,  lamps, 
and  housings,  we  got  as  high  as  30°  below  zero,  only 
gixty-two  below  the  freezing  point! !  probably  the  low- 
est atmospheric  record  of  a  theatrical  representation. 

"  It  was  a  strange  thing  altogether.  The  conden- 
sation was  so  excessive  that  we  could  barely  see  the 
performers :  they  walked  in  a  cloud  of  vapor.  Any 
extra  vehemence  of  delivery  was  accompanied  by  vol- 
umes of  smoke.  The  hands  steamed.  When  an  excit- 
ed  Thespian  took  off  his  hat,  it  smoked  like  a  dish  of 
potatoes.  When  he  stood  expectant,  musing  a  reply, 
the  vapor  wreathed  in  little  curls  from  his  neck.  This 
was  thirty  degrees  lower  than  the  lowest  of  Parry's 
North  Georgian  performances. 


THE     SCURVY. 


477 


The  lowest  temperature  we  recorded  during  the 
cruise  was  on  the  22d  of  this  month,  when  the  ship's 
thermometer  gave  us  —46°;  my  oflkhip  spirit,  —52°  . 

Cold  as  it  was,  our  mid-day  exercise  was  never  in- 
terrupted, unless  by  wind  and  drift  storms.  We  felt 
the  necessity  of  active  exercise ;  and  although  the  ef- 
fort was  accompanied  with  pains  in  the  joints,  some- 
times hardly  bearable,  we  managed,  both  officers  and 
crew,  to  obtain  at  least  three  hours  a  day.  The  ex- 
ercise consisted  of  foot-ball  and  sliding,  followed  by 
regular  games  of  romps,  leap-frog,  and  tumbling  in 
the  snow.  By  shoveling  away  near  the  vessel,  we 
obtained  a  fine  bare  surface  of  fresh  ice,  extremely 
glib  and  durable.  On  this  we  constructed  a  skating- 
ground  and  admirable  slides.  I  walked  regularly  over 
the  floes,  although  the  snows  were  nearly  impassable. 

With  all  this,  aided  by  hosts  of  hygienic  resources, 
feeble  certainly,  but  still  the  best  at  my  command, 
scurvy  advanced  steadily.  This  fearful  disease,  so 
often  warded  off*  when  in  a  direct  attack,  now  exhib- 
ited itself  in  a  cachexy,  a  depraved  condition  of  sys- 
tem sad  to  encounter.  Pains,  diffuse,  and  non-loca- 
table,  were  combined  with  an  apathy  and  lassitude 
which  resisted  all  attempts  at  healthy  excitement. 

These,  of  course,  were  not  confined  to  the  crew 
alone  :  out  of  twenty-four  men,  but  five  were  without 
ulcerated  gums  and  blotched  limbs ;  and  of  these  five, 
strange  to  say,  four  were  cooks  and  stewards.  All  the 
officers  were  assailed.  Old  pains  were  renewed,  old 
wounds  opened ;  even  old  bruises  and  sprains,  received 
at  barely-remembered  periods  back,  came  to  us  like 
dreams. 

The  close  of  the  month  found  this  state  of  things  on 
the  in'       .    and  the  strength  of  the  party  still  waning. 


*'\ 


It  ■>*,.  ;■  i-  ; 


'      lift  ■  I.  H-'      t  ' 


^u 


^m  i 


' ' 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  EXPEDITION. 

(continued.) 

Our  brig  was  still  resting  on  her  cradle,  and  her 
consort  on  the  floe  a  short  distance  off,  when  the  first 
month  of  spring  came  to  greet  us.  AVe  had  passed 
the  latitude  of  72°. 

To  prepare  for  our  closing  struggle  with  the  ice- 
fields,  or  at  least  divide  its  hazards,  it  was  determined 
to  refit  the  Rescue.  To  get  at  her  hull,  a  pit  was 
sunk  in  the  ice  around  her,  large  enough  for  four  men 
to  work  in  at  a  time,  and  eight  feet  deep,  so  as  to  ex- 
pose her  stern,  and  leave  only  eighteen  inches  of  the 
keel  imbedded.  This  novel  dry-dock  answered  per- 
fectly. The  hull  was  inspected,  and  the  work  of  re- 
pair  was  pressed  so  assiduously,  that  in  three  days  the 
stern-post  was  in  its  place,  and  the  new  bowsprit  ready 
for  shipping.  We  had  now  the  chances  of  two  ships 
again  in  case  of  disaster. 

The  19th  gave  us  a  change  of  scene.     I  was  aroused 
from  my  morning  sleep  by  the  familiar  voicp 
Murdaugh,  as  he  hurried  along  the  halfde' 
opening" — "  Open  leads  off  our  starb  — 

"Frost-smoke  all  around  us!"  Fivr  inute.-  /ter- 
ward,  Henri  had  been  summoned  from  tlu;  galley  ;  and, 
carbine  in  hand,  I  was  tumbling  over  the  hui  mocks. 


I.-. 


A     OALE. 


479 


'^  March  20.  Thursday,  tho  20tli  of  Mnrch,  opens 
\viih  a  gJilo,  a  roj^iilar  gale.  On  roachin«(  dcM'k  after 
; ..  ukfast,  I  found  tho  wind  from  tho  southeast,  tho 
,;,('rnioinoter  at  zero,  and  rising.  Thoso  southeast 
i.tornis  are  looked  upon  as  luiving  an  iniportiint  iiillu- 
cnee  on  the  ice.  Tliey  are  always  warm,  and  by  the 
soa  which  they  excite  at  tlio  .southern  mar«,nn  of  the 
pack,  have  a  great  elfect  in  breaking  the  floos.  Mr. 
Olrik  tohl  me  that  tliey  were  anxiously  h)oked  for  on 
the  Greenhind  coast  as  precursors  of  open  water.  The 
(lute  of  the  southeast  gale  hist  year,  at  Uppernavik, 
was  April  25th.  Our  thermometer  gave  +o-'  at  noon- 
day, +  7°  at  one,  and  +8°  at  three  o'clock!! 

"  This  is  tlie  heaviest  storm  we  have  had  sinco  en- 
tering Lancaster  Sound,  exactly  seven  months  ah«l  a 
(lay  ago.  The  snow  is  whirled  in  such  quantities, 
that  our  thick  felt  housing  seems  as  if  of  gauze:  it 
not  only  covers  our  decks,  but  drives  into  our  clothes 
like  fine  dust  or  flour.  A  plated  thermometer  was  in- 
visible  fourteen  feet  from  the  eye:  from  the  distance 
of  ten  paces  off  on  our  quarter,  a  white  opacity  cov- 
ers every  thing,  the  compass-stand,  fox-traps,  and  all 
beyond:  the  Rescue,  of  course,  is  completely  hidden. 
This  heavy  snow-drift  exceeds  any  thing  that  I  had 
conceived,  although  many  of  my  Arctic  English  friends 
had  discoursed  to  me  eloquently  about  their  perils  and 
discomforts.  As  to  facing  it  in  a  stationary  position, 
nothing  human  could;  for  a  man  would  be  buried  in 
ten  minutes.  Even  in  reaching  our  little  Tuscnlum, 
we  tuinble  up  to  our  middle,  in  places  where  a  few 
minutes  before  the  very  ice  was  laid  bare.  The  en- 
tire topography  of  our  ice  is  changing  constantly. 
"  7  P.M.  '  The  wind  is  howling.' 


■Ar 


i 


NliH' 


tw 


480 


AK     ESCAPE. 


M 


r-Sw  (■<•«■' 


"March  23,  Sunday.  After  divine  service,  started 
for  the  ice-openings.  We  are  now  in  the  centre  of 
an  area,  which  we  estimated  roughly  as  four  miles 
from  north  to  south,  and  a  little  more  east  and  west. 
On  reaching  what  was  yesterday's  sea-beach,  I  was 
forced  to  recant  in  a  measure  my  convictions  as  to 
the  force  of  the  opposing  floes. 

"  A  new  crack  was  reported  at  one  o'clock,  about 
the  third  of  a  mile  from  our  ship ;  and  the  bearings  of 
the  sun  showed  that  our  brig  had,  for  the  first  time 
since  entering  Baffin's  Bay,  rotated  considerably  to 
the  northward.  Here  were  two  subjects  for  examin- 
ation.  So,  as  soon  as  dinner  was  over,  I  started  with 
Davis  and  Willie,  two  of  my  scurvy  henchmen,  on 
a  walk  to  the  openings.  Reaching  the  recent  crack, 
we  found  the  ice  five  feet  four  inches  thick,  and  the 
black  water,  in  a  clear  streak  a  foot  wide,  running  to 
the  east  and  west.  I  hod  often  read  of  Esquimaux 
being  carried  off  by  the  separation  of  these  great  floes; 
but,  knowing  that  our  guns  could  call  assistance  from 
the  brig,  we  jumped  over  and  hurried  on.  We  were 
well  paid. 

"  I  was  tempted  to  stay  too  long.  The  wind  sprang 
up  suddenly.  The  floe  began  to  move.  I  thought  of 
the  crack  between  me  and  the  ship,  and  started  off. 
The  walking,  however,  was  very  heavy,  and  my  scur- 
vy patients  stiff"  in  the  extensors.  By  the  time  I 
reached  the  crack,  it  had  opened  into  a  chasm,  and 
a  river  as  broad  as  the  Wissahiccon  ran  between  me 
and  our  ship.  After  some  little  anxiety — not  much 
— 1  saw  our  captain  ordering  a  party  to  our  relief. 
The  sledges  soon  appeared,  dragged  by  a  willing  par- 
ty ;  the  India  rubber  boat  was  lowered  into  the  lead, 
and  the  party  ferried  over. 


FLOATING     BEARS. 


481 


^^ April  21,  xilonday.  I  have  more  than  common 
cause  for  thankfulness.  A  mere  accident  kept  me 
from  starting  last  night  to  secure  our  bear.  Had  1 
done  so,  I  would  probably  have  spared  you  reading 
more  of  my  journal.  The  ice  over  which  we  traveled 
so  carelessly  on  Saturday  has  become,  by  a  sudden 
movement,  a  mass  of  floating  rubbish. 

"  In  the  walk  of  this  morning,  which  startled  me 
with  the  change,  I  saw  for  the  first  time  a  seal  upon 
the  ice.  This  looks  very  summer-like.  He  was  not 
accessible  to  our  guns.  To-day,  for  the  first  time  too, 
the  gulls  were  flying  over  the  renovated  water.  Com- 
ing back  we  saw  fresh  bear  tracks.  How  wonderful 
is  the  adaptation  which  enables  a  quadruped,  to  us 
associated  inseparably  with  a  land  existence,  thus  to 
inhabit  an  ice-covered  ocean.  We  are  at  least  eighty 
miles  from  the  nearest  land,  Cape  Kater ;  and  chan- 
nels innumerable  must  intervene  between  us  and  terra 
firma.  Yet  this  majestic  animal,  dependent  upon  his 
own  predatory  resources  alone,  and,  defying  cold  as 
well  as  hunger,  guided  by  a  superb  instinct,  confides 
himself  to  these  solitary,  unstable  ice-fields. 

"  There  is  something  very  grand  about  this  tawny 
savage;  never  leaving  this  utter  destitution,  this  frigid 
inhospitableness — coupling  in  May,  and  bringing  forth 
in  Christmas  time — a  gestation  carried  on  all  of  it 
below  zero,  more  than  half  of  it  in  Arctic  darkness — 
living  in  perpetual  snow,  and  dependent  for  life  upon 
a  never-ending  activity — using  the  frozen  water  as 
a  raft  to  traverse  the  open  seas,  that  the  water  un- 
frozen may  yield  him  the  means  of  life.  No  time 
for  hibernation  has  this  Polar  tiger:  his  life  is  one 
great  winter." 


;  I 


482 


THE     BREAK-UP. 


"June  5,  Thursday.  We  notice  again  this  morn 
ing  the  movement  in  the  trench  alongside.  The  float 
ing  scum  of  rubbish  advances  and  recedes  with  a  reg 
ularity  that  can  only  be  due  to  some  equable  undula 
tion  from  without  to  the  north.  We  continue  perch 
ed  up,  just  as  we  were  after  our  great  lift  of  last  De 
cember.  A  more  careful  measurement  than  we  had 
made  before,  gave  us  yesterday,  between  our  height 
aft  and  depression  forward,  a  difference  of  level  of  G 
feet  4  inches.  This  inclination  tells  in  a  length  of 
83  feet — about  one  in  thirteen. 

"P.M.  The  BRF.\K-up  AT  last!  a  little  after  five 
this  afternoon,  Mr.  Griffin  left  us  for  the  Rescue,  alter 


topoobaphy  op  the  floe,  may  31. 

A.  Advance.  B  II.  Shorter  riinmeter,  3\  miles. 

K.  Hcscuc.  C  C.  Loiigur  dmiiiotcr,  SJ  miles. 

Distance  between  the  vessels,  £00  j  urdj. 


THE     RESCUE     FREE. 


483 


making  a  short  visit.  He  had  hardly  gone  before  I 
heard  a  hail  and  its  answer,  both  of  them  in  a  tone  of 
more  excitement  than  we  had  been  used  to  for  some 
time  past ;  and  the  next  moment,  the  cry,  '  Ice  crack- 
ing ahead !' 

"  Murdaugh  and  myself  reached  the  deck  just  in 
time  to  see  De  Haven  crossing  our  gangway.  We  fol- 
lowed. Imagine  our  feelings  when,  midway  between 
the  two  vessels,  we  saw  Griffin  with  the  ice  separat- 
ing before  him,  and  at  the  same  instant  found  a  crack 
tracing  its  way  between  us,  and  the  water  spinning 
up  to  the  surface.  '  Stick  by  the  floe.  Good-by ! 
What  news  for  home?'  said  he.  One  jump  across 
the  chasm,  a  hearty  God  -  bless  -  you  shake  of  the 
hand,  a  long  jump  back,  and  a  little  river  divided  our 
party. 

"  Griffin  made  his  way  along  one  fissure  and  over 
another.  We  followed  a  lead  that  was  open  to  our 
starboard  beam,  each  man  for  himself  In  half  a 
minute  or  less  came  the  outcry,  '  She's  breaking  out : 
all  hands  aboard  !'  and  within  ten  minutes  from  Grif- 
fin's first  hail,  while  we  were  yet  scrambling  into  our 
little  Ark  of  Refuge,  the  whole  area  about  us  was  di- 
vided by  irregular  chasms  in  every  direction. 

"All  this  was  at  half  past  five.  At  six  I  took  a 
bird's-eye  sketch  from  aloft.  Many  of  the  fissures  were 
already  some  twenty  paces  across.  Conflicting  forces 
were  at  work  every  where  ;  one  round-house  moving 
here,  another  in  an  opposite  direction,  the  two  vessels 
parting  company.  Since  the  night  of  our  Lancaster 
Sound  commotion,  months  ago,  the  Rescue  had  not 
changed  her  bearing :  she  was  already  on  our  port- 
beam.     Every  thing  was  change. 

"Our  brig,  however,  had  not  yet  found  an  even  keel. 


i 

■ 

■i 

SJ^^Klj 

<  I 

1 

i 

n 

<  '•*: 


484 


THE     ADVANCE. 


is=r 


bird's-eye   view   of   floe,  JUNE   5. 

A.  Adrance.  D.  Floe  adhering  to  the  Advance. 

R.  Rescue.  (;.  Path  between  brigs  before  break-up. 

II II.  Hummocks. 

The  enormous  masses  of  ice,  thrust  under  her  stern  by 
the  action  of  repeated  pressures,  had  gUied  themselves 
together  so  completely,  that  we  remained  cradled  in  a 
mass  of  ice  exceeding  twenty-five  feet  in  solid  depth. 
Many  of  these  tables  were  liberated  by  the  swell,  and 
rose  majestically  from  their  recesses,  striking  the  ship, 
and  then  escapi  u"  above  the  surface  for  a  moment, 
with  a  sudden  vault. 

"To  add  to  the  novelty  of  our  situation,  two  cracks 
coming  together  obliquely,  met  a  few  yards  astern  of 
us,  cleaving  through  the  heavy  ice. 


AN     EVEN     KEEL. 


485 


\ 


stern  by 

emselves 

Idled  in  a 

|id  depth. 

roll,  and 

1  the  ship, 

I  moment, 

ro  cracks 
lastern  of 


"June  8,  Sunday.  Even  keel  again!!-  Once  more 
floating  ship-fashion,  in  a  ship's  element.  It  was  be- 
tween twelve  and  one  o'clock  this  morning.  Mur- 
daugh  went  down  upon  the  fragment,  which  was  still 
adhering  to  our  starboard  side.  He  had  hardly  rested 
his  weight  upon  it,  when,  with  certain  hurried,  scarce- 
ly premonitory  grindings,  it  cleared  itself.  lie  had 
barely  time  to  scramble  up  the  brig's  side,  tearing  his 
nails  in  the  effort,  before,  with  crash  and  turmoil,  it 
tumbled  up  to  the  surface,  letting  us  down  once  more 
into  clear  water.  When  I  reached  the  deck,  I  could 
hardly  realize  the  level,  horizontal  condition  of  things, 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  this  up  and  down  hill 
work  so  long. 

•'  9  P.M.  At  1  o'clock  P.M.  the  wind  freshened  from 
the  northward,  enough  to  make  sail.  We  cast  off,  and 
renewed  the  old  times  process  of  boring,  standing  ir- 
regularly among  the  fragments  to  the  southward  and 
eastward.  We  received  some  heavy  bumps,  but  kept 
under  weigh  until  6  P.M.,  when  an  impenetrable  ice- 
fog  caused  us  to  hanl  up  to  a  heavy  floe,  to  which  we 
are  now  fast  by  three  anchors.  We  estimate  our  prog- 
ress at  six  miles.     The  Rescue  is  not  visible. 

"  From  the  heavy  floe  to  which  we  are  secured  we 
obtained  fresh  thawed  water.  This  is  the  first  time 
since  the  15th  of  September  that  I  have  drunk  water 
liquefied  without  fire.  Eight  months  and  twenty-four 
days :  think  of  that,  dear  strawberry  and  cream  eating 
family ! 

It  had  been  determined  bv  our  commander  that  we 
should  refresh  at  Whale  Fish  Islands,  and  then  hast- 
en back  to  Melville  Bay,  the  North  Water,  Lancaster 
Sound,  and  AVellington  Channel ;  and  certainly  there 
was  no  one  on  board  who  did  not  enter  heart  and  soul 

29 


J 


a.'  i 


^  .i-     ^ 


'\t 


ia  !* 


(II  • 


I 


486 


KRONPRINSEN. 


into  the  scheme.  It  was  in  pursuance  of  it  that  we 
were  now  bending  our  course  to  the  east. 

The  circumstances  that  surrounded  us,  the  daily  in- 
cidents, our  destination  and  purpose,  were  the  same  as 
when  approaching  the  Sukkertoppen  a  year  bel'ore. 
Tiiere  were  the  same  majestic  fleets  of  bergs,  the  same 
Iftorions  of  birds  of  the  same  varieties,  the  same  anx- 
ious  look-out,  and  rapid  conning,  and  fearless  eiicomi- 
ter  of  ice-fields.  Every  thing  was  unchanged,  except 
the  glowing  confidence  of  young  health  at  the  outset 
of  adventure.  We  had  taken  our  seasoning :  the  ex- 
perience of  a  winter's  drift  had  quieted  some  of  our  en- 
thusiasm. But  we  felt,  as  veterans  at  the  close  of  a 
campaign,  that  with  recruited  strength  we  should  be 
better  fitted  for  the  service  than  ever.  All,  therefore, 
looked  at  the  well-remembered  clitfs,  that  liung  over 
Kronprinsen,  with  the  sentiment  of  men  approaching 
liome  for  the  time,  and  its  needed  welcomes. 

We  reached  them  on  the  16th.  Mr.  Murdaugh,  and 
myself,  and  four  men,  and  three  bottles  of  rum,  were 
dispatched  to  communicate  with  the  shore.  As  we 
rowed  in  to  the  landing-place,  the  great  dikes  of  in- 
jected syenite  stood  out  red  and  warm  against  the 
cold  gray  gneiss,  and  the  moss  gullies  met  us  like  lli- 
miliar  grass-plots.  Esquimaux  crowded  the  rocks,  and 
dogs  barked,  and  children  yelled.  A  few  lusty  pulls, 
and  after  nine  months  of  drift,  and  toil,  and  scurvy, 
we  w^ere  once  more  on  terra  firma. 

God  forgive  me  the  revulsion  of  unthankfulness ! 
I  ought  to  have  dilated  with  gratitude  for  my  lot. 

Winter  had  been  severe.  The  season  lagged.  The 
birds  had  not  yet  begun  to  breed.  Faces  were  w^orn, 
and  forms  bent.  Every  body  was  coughing.  In  one 
hut,  a  summer  lodge  of  reindeer  and  seal  skins,  was 


,1  i.sl;:*  •  .^> 


AT    GODHAVEN. 


487 


a  dead  child.  It  was  many  months  since  I  had  look- 
ed at  a  corpse.  The  poor  little  thing  had  been  foi 
once  washed  clean,  tlnd  looked  cheerfully.  The  fa- 
ther leaned  over  it  weeping,  for  it  was  a  boy;  and 
two  little  sisters  were  making  lamentation  in  a  most 
natural  and  savage  way. 

I  gave  the  corpse  a  string  of  blue  beads,  and  bought 
a  pair  of  seal-skin  boots  for  twenty-five  cents;  and 
we  rowed  back  to  the  brig.  In  a  very  little  while 
we  were  under  sail  for  God  haven. 

AVe  were  but  five  days  recruiting  at  God  haven. 
It  was  a  shorter  stay  than  we  had  expected;  but  wo 
were  all  of  us  too  anxious  to  regain  the  searching 
ground  to  complain.  We  made  the  most  of  it,  of 
course.  We  ate  inordinately  of  eider,  and  codlisli, 
and  seal,  to  say  nothing  of  a  hideous-looking  toad 
fish,  a  Lepodogaster,  that  insisted  on  patronizing  our 
pork-baited  lines;  chewed  bitter  herbs,  too,  of  every 
sort  we  could  get;  drank  largely  of  the  smallest  of 
small-beer;  and  danced  with  the  natives,  teaching 
tlieni  the  polka,  and  learning  the  pee-oo-too-ka  in  re- 
turn. But  on  the.  22d,  by  six  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
we  were  working  our  w^ay  again  to  the  north. 

We  passed  the  hills  of  Disco  in  review,  with  their 
terraced  summits,  simulating  the  Ghauts  of  Ilindos- 
tan ;  the  green-stone  cliffs  round  Omenak's  Fiord,  the 
great  dockyard  of  bergs;  and  Cape  Cranstoun,  around 
which  they  w^ere  clustered  like  a  fleet  waiting  for  con- 
voy. They  "were  of  majestic  proportions;  and  as  we 
wound  our  way  tortuously  among  them,  one  after  an- 
other would  come  into  the  field  of  view,  like  a  tem- 
ple set  to  be  the  terminus  of  a  vista.  At  one  time 
'>ve  had  the  whole  Acropolis  looking  down  upon  us  in 
silver;  at  another,  our  Philadelpia-copy  of  the  Par- 


¥ii 


I'i-i  h 


^>-    '''V 


m 


il  W> 


i\r 


r 


l|V 


1  5!v|sil|!jitf^,r 


i  i 


m 


488 


B  !•:  U  G  s. 


thonon,  tlie  monumental  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
stood  out  nlone.  Then,  ajrain,  some  venerable  Cathe- 
dral,  with  its  deep  vaults  and  hoary  belfries,  would 
spread  itself  across  the  sky ;  or  perhaps  some  wild 
combination  of  architectural  impossibilities. 

We  moved  so  slowly  that  I  had  time  to  sketch  sev- 
eral of  these  dreamy  fabrics.  The  one  which  is  en- 
graved on  the  opposite  page  was  an  irregular  quad- 
rangle, projected  at  the  extremity  of  a  series  of  ice- 
structures,  like  the  promontory  that  ends  an  isthmus: 
it  was  crowned  with  ramparts  turreted  by  fractures; 
and  at  the  water-line  a  great  barreled  arch  went  back 
into  a  cavern,  that  might  have  fabled  as  the  haunt  of 
sea-kings  or  smugglers. 

Oif  Storoe,  a  white  fox  (C.  lagopus)  came  to  us  on 
the  loose  ice :  his  legs  and  the  tip  of  his  tail  were 
black.  He  was  the  first  we  had  seen  on  the  Green- 
land coast. 

He  was  followed  the  next  day  by  a  party  of  Esqui- 
maux, who  visited  us  from  Proven,  dragging  their  ka- 
yacks  and  themselves  over  seven  miles  of  the  pack, 
and  then  paddling  merrily  on  board.  For  two  glasses 
of  rum  and  a  sorry  ration  of  salt-pork,  they  kept  turn- 
ing somersets  by  the  dozen,  making  their  egg-shell 
skiffs  revolve  sideways  by  a  touch  of  the  paddle,  and 
hardly  disappearing  under  the  water  before  they  were 
heads  up  again,  and  at  the  gangway  to  swallow  their 
reward. 

The  inshore  ice  opened  on  the  thirtieth,  and  toward 
evening  we  left  tie  hospitable  moorage  of  our  iceberg, 
and  made  for  the  low,  rounded  rocks,  which  the  Hosky 
pointed  out  to  us  as  the  seat  of  the  settlement.  The 
boats  were  out  to  tow  us  clear  of  the  floating  rubbish, 
as  the  light  and  variable  winds  made  their  help  nee- 


ESQUIMAUX    GUESTS. 


489 


essary,  and  we  wore  slowly  approaching'  our  anchor- 
ago,  when  a  rough  yawl  boarded  us.  She  brought  a 
pleasant  company,  Unas  the  schoolmaster  and  parish 
priest,  Louisa  his  sister,  the  g'ontle  Amalia,  Louisa's 
cousin,  and  some  others  of  humbler  note. 


The  baptismal  waters  had  but  superficially  roj^on- 
erated  these  savages:  their  deportment,  at  least,  did 
not  conform  to  our  nicest  canons.  For  tli(^  first  live 
minutes,  to  be  sure,  the  ladies  kept  their  laces  close 
covered  with  their  hands,  only  withdrawing  iliem  to 
blow  their  noses,  which  they  did  in  the  iiiost  ])rinii- 
tive  and  picturesque  manner.  But  their  modesty  thus 
assured,  they  felt  that  it  needed  no  further  illustration. 
They  volunteered  a  dance,  avowed  to  us  confidential- 
ly that  they  had  educated  tastes — Amalia  that  she 
smoked,  Louisa  that  she  tolerated  the  luore  enliven- 
ing liquids,  and  both  that  their  exercise  in  the  open 
air  had  made  a  slight  refection  altogether  acceptable. 
Hospitality  is  the  virtue  of  these  M'ild  regions:  our 
hard  tack,  and  cranberries,  and  rum  were  in  recj^uisi- 
tion  at  once. 

It  is  not  for  the  host  to  tell  tales  of  his  after-dinner 
company.  But  tlie  truth  of  history  may  be  satisfied 
without  an  intimation  that  our  guests  paid  niggard 


;ui 


490 


PROVEN. 


Vi'. 


honors  to  tlio  jolly  god  of  a  irillder  cliino.  The  veri- 
est  prince,  of  bottle  nuiinories,  M'oiild  not  have  t|iiiir- 
reled  with  their  heel-taps.     *     '*     '^ 

AVe  were  inside  the  rocrky  islands  of  Pniven  harbor 
ns  onr  watc^hes  told  lis  that  another  djiy  had  begun. 
'I'he  time  was  (!ome  for  parting.  The  ladies  shed  a 
few  kindly  tears  as  we  handed  them  to  the  stern- 
.«<eats:  their  learned  kinsman  took  a  recumbent  posi- 
tion below  the  thwarts,  which  favored  a  continuance 
of  his  nap;  and  the  rest  of  the  party  were  bestowed 
with  seaman-like  address — all  but  one  unfortunate 
genilenum,  who,  having  protracted  his  festive  devo- 
tions longer  than  usual,  had  resolved  not  to  "go  home) 
till  morning." 

The  case  was  a  difficult  one;  but  there  was  no  help 
for  it.  As  the  sailors  passed  him  to  the  bottom  of  the 
boat,  and  again  out  upon  the  beach,  he  made  the  air 
vocal  with  his  indignant  outcries.  The  dogs — I  have 
told  you  of  the  dogs  of  these  settlements,  how  they 
welcomed  our  first  arrival — joined  their  music  with 
his.  The  Provenese  came  chattering  out  into  the 
cold,  like  chickens  startled  from  their  roost.  The  gov- 
ernor was  roused  by  the  uproar.  And  in  the  midst 
of  it  all,  our  little  weather-beaten  flotilla  ran  up  the 
first  American  flag  that  had  been  seen  in  the  port  of 
Proven. 

The  port  of  Proven  is  securely  sheltered  by  itr>!:  mon- 
ster hills.  But  they  can  not  be  said  to  smile  a  wel- 
come upon  the  navigator. 

Summer  comes  slowly  upon  Proven.  "When  we 
arrived,  the  slopes  of  the  hills  were  heavily  patched 
with  snow,  and  the  surface,  where  it  showed  itself, 
was  frozen  dry.  The  Avater-line  was  toothed  with 
fano-s  of  broken  ice,  which  scraped  against  the  beach 


:^)'m 


x)r 


:;!;  irion- 
a  wel- 


THE    HOUSE    OF    PROVEN. 


401 


as  the  tides  rose  and  fell;  and  an  iceberg  solnello^v 
or  other  had  found  its  way  into  the  little  port.  It 
was  a  harmless  lump,  too  deep  sunk  to  float  into  dan- 
gerous nearness;  and  its  spire  rose  pleasantly,  like  a 
village  church. 

'*JuIi/  'S.  I  am  writing  in  the  *IIosky'  House  of 
Cristiansen.  Cristiansen  is  the  Danish  governor  of 
Proven,  and  this  house  of  Cristiansen  is  the  House  of 
Proven.  Its  owner  is  a  simple  and  shrewd  old  Dane, 
hale  and  vigorous,  thirty-one  of  whose  sixty-four  win- 
ters have  been  spent  within  the  Arctic  circle,  north  of 
70'^  N.  Lord  in  his  lonely  region — his  four  sons  and 
five  subordinates,  oilmen,  the  only  white  i'aces  about 
him,  except  when  he  visits  Uppernavik — the  good  old 
man  has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  no  superior.  His 
habits  are  three  fourths  Esquinniux,  one  eighth  Dan- 
ish, and  the  remainder  Provenish,  or  peculiarly  his 
own.  His  wife  is  a  half-breed,  and  his  family,  in  lan- 
guage and  aspect,  completely  Esquimaux. 

"  When  the  long,  dark  winter  comes,  he  exchanges 
books  with  his  friend  the  priest  of  Uppernavik.  '  The 
Dantz  Penning  Magazin,'  and  *  The  History  of  the  Uni- 
tas  Fratrum,'  take  the  place  of  certain  well-thumbed, 
ancient,  sentimental  novels ;  and  sometimes  the  priest 
comes  in  person  to  tenant  the  '  spare  room,'  which 
makes  it  very  pleasant,  *  for  we  talk  Danish.' 

"  Except  this  spare  room,  which  elsewhere  would 
be  called  the  loft  of  the  house,  its  only  apartment  is 
the  one  in  which  I  am.  And  here  eat,  and  drink,  and 
cook,  and  sleep,  and  live,  not  only  Cristiansen  and  all 
his  descendants,  but  his  wife's  mother,  and  her  chil- 
dren, grandchildren,  and  great-grandchildren  who  are 
growing  up  about  her.  It  is  fil'teen  feet  broad  by  six- 
teen long,  with  just  height  enough  for  a  grenadier, 


I' 


4 


.<i2!l 


I  i 


'':'    f 


492 


THE    FAMILY. 


m 


I  '3 


.  f 


..  u 


without  his  cap,  to  stand  erect,  and  not  toiurli  1Ir> 
beams.  The  Inuno  ol' the  liouso  is  of  Norway  pine, 
coated  with  tar,  with  its  interspaces  caulked  witli  ino^s, 
and  small  window-panes  inserted  in  a  deep  casiny^  ol' 
wood. 

"The  most  striking  decorative  feature  is  a  le(i<ro  or 
shelforpine  plank,  ol"  \  aryin«^  width,  which  runs  round 
three  ol'  its  sides.  Its  ca})acity  is  wonderful.  It  is 
the  sofa  and  bed,  on  which  the  entire  united  family 
find  room  to  loll  and  sleep  ;  and  upon  it  now  are  luid- 
died,  besides  a  navy  doctor  and  his  writinji,''  boiird,  (hk^ 
ink-bottle,  sundry  articles  of  food  aiul  rel'reslinient,  one 
sleeping  child,  one  lot  of  babies  not  in  the  least  asleep, 
one  canary-bird  cage  with  its  exotic  and  most  sorrow- 
ful little  prisoner,  and  an  inlinite  variety  of  otiu'r  ar- 
ticles too  tedious  to  mention,  comprising  seal-skins, 
boots,  bottles,  jumpers,  glasses,  crockery  both  of  kitch- 
en and  nursery,  coti'ee-pots,  dog-skin  socks,  canvas  piU 
lows,  an  eider-down  comforter,  and  a  sick  bitch  with 
a  youthful  family  of  whining  puppies. 

"  Una,  the  second  daughter,  has  been  sick  and  un- 
der treatment ;  and  she  is  now  hard  at  work  with  her 
sisters,  Anna,  Sara,  and  Cristina,  on  a  tribute  of  grati- 
tude to  her  doctor.  They  have  been  busy  all  the 
morning  whipping  and  stitching  the  seal-skins  with 
reindeer  tendon  thread.  My  present  is  to  be  a  c(jni- 
plete  suit  of  ladies'  apparel,  made  of  the  richest  seal- 
skin,  according  to  the  standard  mode  of  Proven,  which 
may  always  be  presumed  to  be  the  '  latest  winter  lash- 
ion.'  It  is  a  really  elegant  dress.  To  some  the  unmen- 
tionables  might  savor  ofmascularity ;  but  having  seen 
something  of  a  more  polite  society,  my  feminine  asso- 
ciations are  not  restricted  to  petticoats.  Extremes  meet 
in  the  Esquimaux  of  Greenland  and  Amazons  oi' Paris. 


ESQUIMAUX     Ml'K. 

"  Tlio  largo  fjunily  is  ;i  hni)])}' 
one:  so  ssinall  a  lioiin'  could  not 
tolerate  a  qiiarrolsoiiu^  mess.  Tlio 
sons,  llio  men  Cristianseiis,  brave 


4l)a 


-!!SSw?r 


r 


^> 


and  stalwart  fellows,  practiced  in  the  kayack,  and  the 
sledge,  and  the  whale-net,  adroit  with  the  harpoon  and 
expert  with  the  rifle,  are  constant  at  the  chase,  and 
bring  home  their  spoil,  with  the  honest  pride  becoming 
good  providers  of  their  household.  And  the  women, 
iu  their  nursing,  cooking,  tailoring,  and  housekeeping, 
are,  I  suppose,  faithful  enough.  But  what  f  ivora])le 
hiipression  that  the  mind  gets  through  other  channels 
can  contend  against  the  information  of  the  nose  !  Or- 
gan of  the  aristocracy,  critic  and  tfiagiafrr  inorif/ii  of 
all  civilization,  censor  that  heeds  neither  argument  nor 
ronionstrance — the  nose,  alas  !  it  bids  me  record,  that 
to  all  their  possible  godliness  cleanliness  is  not  super- 
added. 

"During  the  short  summer  of  daylight — it  is  one 
of  the  many  apparent  vestiges,  among  this  people,  of 
ancient  nonuidic  habits — the  whole  family  gather  joy- 


''    L 


r' 


494 


ESQUIMAUX     LIFE. 


'■■t 


n 


V  I 


M 


.1        ■:! 


W 


m 


i^-V 


ously  in  the  summer's  lodge,  a  tent  of  seal  or  reindeer 
skin,  pitched  out  of  doois.  Then  the  room  has  its  an- 
nual ventilation,  and  its  cooking  and  chamber  furni- 
ture are  less  liable  to  be  confounded.  For  the  winter 
the  arrangement  is  this :  on  three  sides  of  the  room, 
close  by  the  ledge  I  have  spoken  of,  stand  as  many 
large  pans  of  porous  steatite  or  serpentine,  elevated  on 
sliglit  wooden  tripods.  These,  filled  with  seal-bkib- 
ber,  and  garnished  with  moss  round  the  edge  to  serve 
as  a  wick,  unite  the  functions  of  chandelier  and  stove. 
They  who  quarrel  with  an  iJl-trimmed  lamp  at  home 
shoukl  be  disciplined  by  one  of  them.  Each  boils  its 
half-gallon  kettle  of  coffee  in  twenty  minutes,  and 
smokes — like  a  small  chimney  on  fire;  and  the  three 
burn  togethei  There  is  no  flue,  or  fire-place,  or  open- 
ing of  escape. 

"On  the  remaining  side  of  the  room  stand  a  valued 
table  and  three  chairs;  and  with  these,  like  a  buhl 
cabinet  or  fancy  etagere,  conspicuous  in  its  modest 
corner,  a  tub.  It  is  the  steeping-tub  for  curing  skins. 
Its  contents  require  active  fermentation  to  fit  them  for 
their  office;  and,  to  judge  from  the  odor,  the  process 
had  been  going  on  successfully." 

We  warped  out  to  sea  again  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
third,  with  our  friend  the  cooper  for  pilot ;  the  entire 
settlement  turning  out  upon  tlie  rocks  to  wish  us  good- 
by,  and  remaining  there  till  they  looked  in  the  dis- 
tance like  a  herd  of  seal.  But  we  found  no  opening 
in  the  pack,  and  came  back  again  to  Proven  on  the 
fourth,  not  sorry,  as  the  weather  was  thickening,  to 
pass  our  festival  inside  the  little  port. 

Our  celebration  was  of  the  primitive  order.  We 
saluted  the  town  with  one  of  the  largest  balanced 
stones,  which  we  rolled  down  from  the  cliff  above; 


Ui 


A    NIGHT    SCENE. 


495 


and  iTuiile  an  egf^-iiogj^  of  eider  etrrra ;  and  tlie  men 
hiul  a  lIo^^ky  ball ;  and,  in  a  word,  we  all  did  our  best 
to  nuike  the  day  dilTer  Ironi  other  days — which  at- 
tempt failed.     Still,  God  ever  bless  the  loinilil 

The  sixth  was  Sunday,  and  we  attended  eluucli  in 
the  morning-  at  the  schoohnaster's.  The  service  coii- 
sisted  of  a  long-winded  hymn,  aiul  a  longer  winded 
sermon,  in  the  Esquimaux — surely  the  longest  of  long- 
winded  languages.  The  congregation  \\ere  some  two 
dozen  men  and  women,  not  counting  our  par^y. 

We  put  to  sea  in  the  afternoon.  The  weatluM-  was 
soft  and  warm  on  shore  ;  but  outside  it  was  perfectly 
d(Uightful :  no  wind — Ihe  streams  of  ice  b(>yond  en- 
forcing a  most  p)erfect  calm  upon  the  water;  the  ther- 
mometer in  the  sunshine  frequently  as  high  as  7()^, 
and  never  sinking  below  30^  in  the  shade.  1  basked 
on  deck  all  i;ight,  sle<'ping  in  the  sun. 

And  such  a  night!  I  saw  the  moon  at  mnhiight, 
while  the  sun  was  slantinjj  along  the  tinted  iiori/on, 
and  duplicatf'd  by  reflection  from  the  wtiter  below  it: 
the  dark  bergs  to  seaward  had  outlines  of  silver;  and 
two  wild  catara(!ts  on  the  shore-side  were  falling  froja 
ice-backed  cliffs  twelve  hundred  feet  into  the  sea. 


m 

',ii 

wt\ 

■'s 

v\ 

''*!' 

it 

(*■■' 

If  1 

liii 

,•" 

PI^M 

'1\ 

I'll 

i 

ff'  \ 

;     ■     ,i 

'  '■  '1;  ; 

l.i 


rJ-   I 


ir'  i 


it 


LM 


•«fc  {S* 


f!    I 


49r< 


BRITiSII    WHALERS. 


Juhj  7.  I  was  awakened  from  my  dreamy  sleep  to 
receive  the  visits  of  a  couple  of  boats  that  were  work- 
ing slowly  to  us  through  the  floes.  An  English  i'ace — 
two  l*]nglish  faces — twelve  English  faces  :  what  a  hap- 
py  sight !  We  had  had  no  one  but  ourselves  to  speak 
our  own  tongue  to  for  three  hundred  days,  and  were 
as  glad  to  listen  to  it  as  if  we  had  been  serving  out 
the  time  in  the  penitentiary  of  silence  at  Auburn  or 
Sing-Sing.  Their  broad  North  Briton  was  music.  It 
was  not  the  offensive  dialect  of  the  provincial  English- 
man, with  the  affectation  of  speaking  his  language 
correctly ;  but  a  strong  and  manly  home-brew  of  the 
best  language  in  the  world  for  words  of  sincere  and 
hearty  good- will.  They  had  to  turn  up  their  noses 
at  our  seal's-liver  breakfast ;  but,  when  they  heard  of 
our  winter  trials,  they  stuffed  down  the  seal  without 
tasting  it.  I  felt  sorry  after  they  were  off,  that  1  had 
not  taken  their  names  down  every  one. 

The  whaling  vessels  to  which  they  returned  were 
in  the  freer  water  outside  the  shore  stream,  the  Jane 
O'Boness,  Captain  John  Walker;  and  the  Pacific,  Cap- 
tain  Patterson. 

The  next  day,  beating  hard  to  windward,  we  made 
TJppernavik  igain.  The  scene. y  around  it  was  very 
striking,  exhibiting  some  magnificent  mural  sections 
of  giieiss  and  slates.  The  entering  hoadland  was  some 
fifteen  hundred  feet  high.  We  found  all  the  liills 
patched  with  snow  to  the  water's  ed^e,  where  their 
bases  are  abraded  by  the  moving  fioes  from  one  year's 
end  to  another. 

Mr.  IMurdaugh  and  myself  visited  the  town  ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  priest's  house,  the  governor's  house,  the  oil 
house,  the  school-church  house,  and  sundry  native 
huts.     The  wood-cut  at  the  bottom  of  page  499  gives 


UPPER     NAVIK. 


49 


the  interior  of  one  of  them,  in  which  we  superintend- 
ed  the  manufacture  of  a  dish  of  coffee. 

We  were  received  by  the  governor,  accompanied  by 
an  okl  friend  of  ours  from  Proven,  a  sort  of  secretary 
there,  "  plenty-scribe-'em"  as  he  styled  himself.  The 
old  gentleman  had  arrived  at  two  that  morning,  in  a 
whale-boat,  with  his  stalwart  sons,  after  thirty-two 
miles  of  pulling  through  the  ice  against  the  wind. 
"  Keesey  ver  bod,"  he  said ;  "  the  ice  was  very  bad." 

The  governor,  superior  in  tone  to  Cristiansen,  who 
is  a  self-made  man,  welcomed  us  with  fine  Danish 
good-breeding,  and  there  is  no  good-breeding  better. 
We  found  hiin  out  to  be  a  desperate  conservative,  fear- 
ful of  nothing  but  change.  His  house  was  after  the 
fashion  of  Mr.  Moldrop's,  of  Godhaven,  and  scrupu- 
lously clean.  Coffee  was  served  ;  and  we  had  the 
honor  of  being  introduced  to  three  young  ladies  of  the 
half-breed,  absolutely  with  frocks  on.  I  thought  I 
could  see  that  one  of  them  had  pantalettes  of  seal-skin 
peeping  out  from  under  her  skirt,  and  a  wiser  critic 
than  myself  might  have  said  that  all  their  dresses  were 
somewhat  antique  of  fashion.  But  they  met  us,  on 
the  other  hand,  with  a  lady-like  disregard  of  our  own 
outlandish  costume ;  and  though  our  language  ■■  is 
somewhat  composite  in  its  idiom,  for  I  understand  nei- 
ther the  Danish  nor  the  Hosky,  and  they  understood 
very  little  English,  we  managed  to  keep  up  quite  an 
animated  conversation.  It  was  very  pleasant  to  re- 
hipse  in  their  company  for  a  while,  into  the  manners 
of  society  at  home. 

We  saw  also  the  family  of  Petersen,  Penny's  dog 
and  Esquimaux  manager,  all  neat  and  pleasing  per- 
sons ;  the  sons,  frank,  manly  fellows,  and  the  eldest 
daughter  really  quite  refined  and  pretty.    But  we  did 


;^:- :h:i' 


\\  ti 


f! 


/  ■,. 


■i  •'     ! 


.(  ; 


■I     !■■ 


>.  r 


498 


Baffin's    islands. 


not  remain  long.  Our  Aberdeen  friends  had  transfer- 
red  to  us  s.  full  supply  of  newspapers  which  tliey  had 
brought  for  Penny ;  so,  after  prescribing  for  the  gov- 
ernor's child,  and  receiving  a  dog-skin  juniper  for  my 
fee,  we  returned  on  board  to  review  the  annals  of  the 
outer  world  for  the  past  year. 

We  now  pursued  our  way  very  smoothly.  We  had 
delightful  weather;  not  the  best,  indeed,  for  men  whose 
errand  lay  ahead,  but  still  very  welcome  to  those  who 
had  roughed  it  of  late  so  severely.  Summer  was  con- 
centrating all  its  strength  and  beauty  in  the  long,  sun- 
encircled  day, 

Both  our  vessels  were  carrying  home  Esquimaux 
dogs.  By  continued  kindness  and  over-feeding,  i  suc- 
ceeded in  quite  changing  the  nature  of  ours :  both 
Disco  and  Hosky  v.  ere  on  the  high  road  to  civilization. 
But  tliose  on  board  the  Rescue  and  the  Albert  were 
still  as  wild  as  jackals :  let  loose  upon  the  ice,  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  -"itch  them  again.  One  after- 
noon, a  little  below  tht.  '  'evirs  Thumb,  when  the  dogs 
of  the  Albert  were  out  on  the  floe  for  exercise,  a  sud- 
den breeze  allowed  her  to  work  to  windward  through 
an  open  lead.  One  poor  dog  was  left  behind.  Boats 
were  sent  out  to  recover  him,  and  we  all  tried  by  voice 
and  gesture  to  coax  him  toward  us.  But  the  half 
savage,  though,  he  stood  gazing  at  us  wildly  v,hen  we 
were  at  a  distance,  ran  skulking  and  wolf-like  as  soon 
as  we  were  near.  We  were  forced  at  last  to  abandon 
him  to  his  fate.  We  could  see  him  for  hours,  a  dark 
speck  upon  the  white  floe ;  and  afterward,  as  far  oft' 
as  the  spy-glass  served,  still  with  his  head  raised  and 
his  body  thrown  back  on  his  haunches.  Worse  than 
tliis ;  such  was  the  quiet  expanse  of  ice  and  water, 
that  we  heard  the  poor  creature's  howling,  waxing 


c;i)OD-BY    10   TllL    riil.NCE    ALBERT,    Mi:i.\n,LE    BAY. 


..'AV.r 


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INTI.RIOn   OK    A    NA    IVI,    HIT.   I  ITEHNAVIK. 


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II 


ESQUIMAUX     DOGS. 


."JOl 


fainter  and  fainter,  for  eight  hours  after  we  left  the 
ice. 

Tlie  training  of  these  animals  by  the  natives  is  of 
the  most  ungracious  sort.  I  never  heard  a  kind  ac 
cent  from  an  Esquimaux  to  his  dog  The  driver's 
whip  of  walrus  hide,  some  twenty  feet  long,  a  stone 
or  a  lump  of  ice  skillfully  directed,  an  imprecation 
loud  and  sharp,  made  emphatic  by  the  fist  or  foot,  and 
a  grudged  ration  of  seal's  meat,  make  up  the  winter's 
entertainment  of  an  Esquimaux  team.  In  the  sum- 
mer the  dogs  run  at  lar<re  and  cater  for  themselves. 

1  remarked  that  there  were  comparatively  few  of 
them  at  Holsteinberg,  and  was  told  a  melancholy  sto- 
ry to  account  for  it.  It  seems  that  the  governor, 
and  priest,  and  h,jherman  keep  goats,  veritable  goats, 
housed  in  a  tire- warmed  c.]?-M-tment  in  winter,  and  al- 
lowed the  rest  of  the  year  to  crop  the  grasses  of  the 
snow  valleys.  Now  the  half-tutored,  nnfed  Esqui- 
maux dog  would  eat  a  goat,  bones,  skin,  and,  for  auglit 
1  know,  horns.  The  diet  was  too  expensive.  It  be- 
came a  grave  question,  therefore,  how  to  reconcile  the 
incompatibilities  of  dog  and  goat.  The  matter  was 
settled  very  summarily.  When  the  green  season  of 
sunshine  and  plenty  came,  the  dogs  were  sent  to  a 
rocky  islet,  a  sort  of  St.  Helena  establishment,  about 
a  mile  from  the  main,  with  permission  to  live  by  their 
wits  ;  and  the  goats  remained  to  browse  and  grow  fat 
at  large.  The  results  were  tragical.  Tlie  doirs  were 
afllicted  with  sore  famine.  Great  life  battles  began  ; 
the  strong  keeping  themselves  alive  by  eating  the 
weak.  By  this  terrible  process  of  gradual  reduction, 
the  colony  was  resolved  into  some  four  or  five  scarred 
veterans,  whose  nightly  combats  disturbed  even  the 
milk  drinkers  at  the  settlement. 


\«k] 


m'rm 


502 


IN     AN      I  C  E  -  T  Fv  A  r  . 


r ' 


'  npm 


fjT'.  /i 


m 


m 


A  few  days  after  the  scene  I  have  described,  we 
neared  our  hated  hmdiriark  of  hist  season,  tlie  Devil's 
Thumb.  But  here  the  leads  closed  ;  and  our  labyrinth 
of  bergs  ottended  us  still,  clogging  our  way,  and  wea- 
rying us  with  their  monotony.  Our  commander  had 
but  one  thought,  and  we  all  sympathized  in  it — how 
could  our  little  squadron  regain  its  position  at  the 
searching  grounds?  We  had  otherwise  no  lack  of 
incidents.  There  were  parhelia,  intricate  ones,  with 
six  solar  images  and  eccentric  circles  of  light,  one  of 
which  had  its  circumference  passing  through  the  sun. 
And  we  had  bear  hunts  now  and  then  of  mothers  and 
cubs  together ;  and  sometimes  we  shot  at  a  flock  of 
birds. 

But  the  spirit  of  the  hunt  had  left  us.  We  were 
close  upon  the  middle  of  August.  Less  than  four 
weeks  remained  for  us  to  get  rid  of  this  vexatious  en- 
tanglement, press  on  through  Lancaster  Sound,  com- 
plete our  explorations  in  Wellington  Channel,  and  re- 
turn to  the  open  water  of  the  bay.  It  was  before  the 
middle  of  September  that  we  had  been  frozen  in  last 
year.  And  here  we  were  in  a  perfect  ice-trap,  unable 
to  win  an  inch  of  progress. 

We  were  without  the  Albert  too.  As  long  ago  as 
the  filth,  her  good  folks  had  determined  to  make  south, 
despairing  of  success  in  a  northward  oilbrt;  and  on  the 
eleventh,  while  we  were  yet  attached  to  the  old  land- 
floe,  she  found  her  way  to  an  open  lead,  and  disap- 
peared on  the  thirteenth.  We  could  hardly  talk  of 
the  regrets  we  all  felt  at  losing  them.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  for  days  after  I  could  hear  their  broken- 
hearted little  hand-organ  grinding  "  The  Garb  of  Old 
Gael . 


BERG     FRACTURE. 


503 


"VYe  perhaps  tliouglit  of  their  (leparture  the  more, 
because  it  iin[)lieil  something  of  uncertainty  as  to  our 
own  fate.  They  had  avt)we(l]y  left  us,  fearless  and 
enter[)j'ising  as  they  were,  to  escape  from  hazards  that 
Ave  were  continuing  to  hrave.  Mr.  Leask,  their  vet- 
eran ice-master,  thought,  when  he  left  us,  that  if  we 
iullowed  the  northern  leads  there  was  almost  a  cer- 
tahity  of  our  being  caught,  like  the  Swan,  and  the 
York,  and  a  host  of  others  before  us.  A  pleasant  neigh- 
borhood, truly !  Here  perished  the  ships  of '47.  Here 
the  North  Star  was  beset  in  '48 ;  hereabout,  the  year 
before  last,  the  l.ady  Jane,  and  the  Superior,  and  the 
Prince  of  Wah'* ;  and,  coming  to  our  own  experience 
of  last  year,  here  it  was,  in  this  very  devil's  hole, 
that  we  wore  out  our  three  weeks'  imprisonment. 

Moreover,  the  season  was  more  advanced  than  hist 
year's  had  been.  The  thermometer,  which  stood  at 
noon  in  the  shade  at  54°,  sunk  in  the  evening  hours 
to  30°. 

^^ August  17,  Sunday.  The  same  revolving  wall  of 
bergs  meets  us  to  the  west,  but  the  glacier  on  the  other 
side  is  partially  hidden  by  a  new  procession  inshore. 
While  profaning  the  day  by  an  attempt  to  sketch  these 
sublime  monuments  of  creative  power  in  my  drawing- 
book,  I  was  interrupted  by  a  heavy  undulation,  roll- 
ing under  the  brig,  and  passing  on  to  the  solid  inshore 
floo.  It  was  followed  by  a  number  of  others,  coming 
in  quick  succession,  and  breaking  up  the  floe  drift  in 
every  direction.  The  action  continued  for  some  min- 
utes. It  must  have  been  caused  by  some  very  hirge 
and  probably  irregular  berg  overturning  at  a  distance; 
but  it  was  without  noise,  and  indeed  without  premo- 
nition  of  any  sort.     The  direcaon  of  the  wave  where 

it  struck  us  was  from  the  northwest.     Up  to  this  nio- 

30 


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504 


THE     OPENING. 


inent,  all  the  liotivy  lioaviiig  and  warping  of  to-day 
had  been  without  any  elhjct.  Now  tlie  llcjes  separated 
as  ii'by  magic:  there  was  relaxation  ev^ery  wliere;  and 
we  made  at  least  two  hundred  yards  hel'ore  the  ice 
closed  again. 

"This  aiternoon,  the  captain,  with  Murdaugh  and 
myself,  walked  and  clinihed  over  this  same  ice,  to 
make  a  recoimoissance  of  the  region  beyond  the  bergs. 
By  the  aid  of  boat-hooks  and  some  slippery  jumping 
we  achieved  it,  and  were  at  last  ahle  to  climb  one  of 
the  imprisoning  bergs,  and  look  from  its  crest  to  the 
other  side. 

*'  It  was  a  sermon  such  as  uninspired  man  has  never 
preached.  There,  there,  far  down  below  us,  there  was 
the  open  water,  stretching  wide  away  to  the  south; 
placid  and  hright,  bearing  on  its  glazed  surface  fleets 
of  bergs  and  raits  of  floes,  hut  open  water  still ;  and 
yet  further  on,  the  unbroken  water-sky.  Our  little 
brig  was  under  us,  the  tiny  fretwork  of  her  spars  traced 
clean  and  sharp  against  the  arena  of  ice ;  but,  thank 
God  !  she  is  nearing  the  gates  of  her  prison-house.  De 
Haven  was  right.  One  quarter  of  a  mile  !  Now,  lads, 
for  the  warps  again ! 

"  Midniglit.  AV^e  are  out :  at  ten  minutes  past  eleven 
we  shipped  our  rudder,  the  first  time  in  three  weeks; 
,  and  made  sail,  the  first  time  since  the  26tli  of  July. 

"  We  owe  it  all  to  a  relaxation  of  the  floes.  The 
wind  was  from  the  northward  :  the  bergs  that  hemmed 
in  the  loose  drift  around  us  yielded  a  little  toward  the 
west,  and  the  skreed  began  to  separate.  The  main- 
brace  was  spliced ;  springs  took  the  place  of  warps ; 
and  the  men  went  gallantly  to  their  work.  They 
were  as  anxious  vO  get  out  as  any  of  us. 

"At  last  we  reached   an  opening:   two  immense 


iV. 


Tllli     ESCAPE. 


no  5 


b('rti:s,  o\('rliiiii<,nii<^  and  raj:^<Ml  ;  iiiul  down  toward  tlie 
wat(;r-lin<',  ail  opciiinjf  l)otwe(!ii  lliem  like  a  ^niteway. 
8liall  wo  pass  if  A\'o  liavo  se(Mi  so  many  {lisrii])tions, 
and  capsi/iiif^s,  and  accideuls  of  all  sorts  in  this  work 
of  anclior-planting:  soinctinit's  a  ni«ro  l)roath  jjrinjfs 
down  iimsses  that  would  hury  hall' a  dozen  such  vos- 
f^els  as  ours ;  and  these  b('r<,'s  are  so  water- washed  and 
pendnlons.  INInrdan^^h  waited  lor  the  order.  De  Ila- 
v(Mi  gave  it;  and,  in  deep  silence,  we  passed  the  Gades 
of  the  Devil's  Traj). 

^^Aifgu.st  19,  Tuesday.  The  Rescue  is  close  astern 
of  us:  she  j^^ot  throu<,Wi  about  noon  yesterday,  (^ur 
commodore  has  resolved  on  an  immediate  return  to 
the  United  States. " 

The  game  had  been  played  out  fairly.  Lancaster 
Sound  was  out  of  the  question ;  and  for  our  scurvy- 
riddled  crew,  a  nine  months'  winter  in  the  ice  of 
North  Baffin  would  have  been  disastrous. 

After  our  escape  from  the  congregated  bergs,  we 
sailed  to  one  at  a  little  distance,  and  filled  our  water- 
casks.  The  herg  crumbled  and  fell  while  we  were  do- 
ing so,  but  nobody  was  hurt ;  and  in  two  days  more, 
after  a  closing  skirmish  with  the  ice-})ack,  W(^  headed 
huiueward.  On  the  twentieth  we  made  our  last  sal- 
utation to  the  Devil's  Thumb;  and  on  the  twenty- 
third,  in  the  evening,  we  were  near  enough  to  Upper- 
uavik  for  a  little  boating  party  of  us  to  make  it  a  visit. 

AV'ith  the  exception  of  Kangiartsoak,  this  is  the 
most  northern  of  the  Danish  settlements.  Its  latitude 
is  72°  47^,  three  hundred  and  seventy  miles  within  1li<^ 
Arctic  circle.  But  reacliing  it,  we  felt  as  if  wi'  liad 
renewed  our  communication  with  the  world  ;  for  hero, 
once  in  every  year,  comes  the  solitary  trader  from  Co- 
pouliagen.  We  had  become  so  familiar  with  the  drear- 
iness of  Greenland,  that  the  glaring  red  gables  of  the 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


^r 


;%-^. 


506 


THE     OOVERXOR    S     MANSION. 


throe  houses!,  and  the  white  curiosity,  which  stood  for 
a  steeple  above  the  church,  were  absolutely  cheeriii<r- 
and  we  landed,  poor  souls  !  after  our  twelve  miles' 
row,  with  hearts  as  elate  as  ever  frolicked  among  tlie 
orange-groves  of  Brazil  or  the  cocoa-palms  of  the  Eajst- 
ern  Pacific. 

Disappointment  once  more  !  The  governor  had  gone 
to  Proven  ;  the  Danish  ship  had  gone  to  Proven  ;  the 
priest  had  gone  to  Proven.  But  the  gentler  sex  re- 
mained. The  governor's  lady  gave  us  a  kindly  wel- 
come,  and  extended  to  us  all  the  hospitalities  of  his 
mansion. 

The  mansion  was  far 
from  picturesque.  It  was 
a  square  block  of  heavy 
timber,  running  into  a 
high-peak  gable.  The 
roof  was  of  tarred  can- 
vas, laid  over  boards ; 
the  wooden  walls  coated 
with  tar,  and  painted  a  glowing  red.  A  little  paling, 
white  and  garden-like,  inclosed  about  ten  feet  of  pre- 
pared soil,  covered  with  heavy  glass  frames ;  under 
which,  in  spite  of  the  hoar-frost  that  gathered  on  them, 
•Ave  could  detect  a  few  bunches  of  cru(rifers,  green  rad- 
ishes, and  turnip-tops.  It  was  the  garden,  the  dis- 
tinctive appendage  of  the  governor's  residence. 

Inside  the  house — it  is  the  type  of  those  at  Disco 
and  Proven — you  pass  by  a  narrow-boarded  vestibule 
lo  a  parlor.  This  parlor,  a  room  of  dignified  consider- 
ation, is  twelve  feet  long  by  eleven  :  beyond  it,  a  door 
opens  to  display  the  suites  a  second  room,  the  state 
chamber,  of  the  same  size. 

The  most  striking  article  of  furniture  is  the  stove,  a 


THE     FEAST. 


50< 


tall,  black  cylinder,  such  as  I  have  seen  in  the  Baltic 
cities,  standihj"  like  a  column  in  the  corner:  the  next, 
a  platoon  of  tobacco-pipes  paraded  against  the  wall : 
the  next — let  me  be  honest,  it  was  the  first — a  table, 
with  a  clean  white  cloth,  and  plates,  knives,  and  I'orks, 
all  equally  clean.  Overhead  hang  beams  as  heavy 
as  the  carlines  ol'a  ship's  cabin:  below  is  an  uncov- 
ered floor  of  scrupulous  polish  :  the  windows  are  re- 
cessed, glazed  in  small  squares,  and  opening,  door-like, 
behind  muslin  curtains  :  the  walls  canvas,  painted, 
and  decorated  with  a  few  prints  altogether  r'jmarkahlo 
for  intensity  of  color.  The  looking-glass;  1  reserve  it 
for  more  special  mention.  It  was  not  very  large,  but 
it  was  the  first  we  had  encountered  since  we  came 
into  the  regions  of  ice.  "  To  see  ourselves  as  others 
see  us"  is  not  always  the  prayer  of  an  intelligent  self- 
love.  Sharp-vis:. ged,  staring,  weather-beaten  old  men, 
wrinkle-marked,  tawny-bearded,  luiggard-looking:  the 
boys  of  Uppernavik  are  better  bred  than  the  Xew  York- 
ers, or  they  would  have  mobbed  us. 

The  ladies — they  were  ladies,  they  knew  no  superi- 
ors ;  they  were  self-possessed,  hospitable ;  they  wore 
frocks,  and  they  did  not  laugh  at  us — the  ladies  spread 
the  meal,  cottee,  loons'  a^^g^,  brown  bread,  and  a  wel- 
come. We  ate  like  jail-birds.  At  last  came  the  crown- 
ing act  of  hospitality  ;  on  the  bottom  of  a  blue  saucer, 
radiating  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  or  the  sticks  of  a 
Delaware's  camp-fire,  crisp,  pale,  yet  blushing  at  their 
tips,  and  crowned  each  with  its  little  verdant  tuft — 
ten  radishes  !  Talk  of  the  mango  of  Luzon  and  the 
mangostine  of  Borneo,  the  cherimoya  of  Peru,  tlie  pine 
of  Sumatra,  the  seckel-pear  of  Schuylkill  meadows; 
but  the  palate  must  cease  to  have  a  memory  before  I 
yield  a  place  to  any  of  them  alongside  the  ten  radishes 
of  Uppernavik. 


1 


fl 


J  1 


508 


THE     K  A  Y  A  C  K 


On  the  twenty-fifth  we  reached  the  AVhale-fish 
Islands,  and  at  six  in  the  evening  were  near  enoui^h 
to  be  towed  in  hy  our  boats  and  anclior  off  Kronprin- 
sen.  Flocks  of  kayacks  hung  about  our  v<'sst'l,  like 
l)irds  about  a  floating  spar.  We  thought  tlicm  laoro 
sprightly  and  active  than  the  Esquimaux  wc  hud  been 
among ;  but  perhaps  it  is  as  unfair  to  judge  of  the  Es- 
quimaux  without  his  kayack  as  of  a  sloth  off  his  tree. 
There  Avas  a  bright  boy  among  them,  under  ten  years 
of  age,  who  could  manage  a  little  craft  they  had  built 
for  him  admirably. 

The  common  length  of  the  kayack  is  about  eight- 
teen  feet,  its  breadth  on  deck  some  twenty-one  inches 
and  its  de]>th  ten  inches  in  the  middle,  just  such  as  to 
alloAV  its  occupant  to  sit  with  his  feet  extended  on  the 
bottom   and  his  hips  below  the  deck. 

Its  frame  is  light  enough  to  startle  all  our  notions 
of  naval  construction,  and  it  is  covered  with  nothing 
but  tanned  seal-hide.  Yet  in  this  egg-shell  fabric  the 
Esquimaux  luivigator  habitually,  and  fearlessly,  and 
successfully  too,  encounters  risks  which  his  more  civ- 
ilized rivals  in  the  seal-hunt,  the  men  of  New  Bedford 


Mild  StoninfrtoH,  would  rightfully  shrink  from.  I  am 
not  sure  that  I  can  uudve  such  ii  desciiption  of  its  pro- 
portions and  structure  as  u  idiip-hnilder  would  under- 
stand ;  but  the  drawin{»"s  I  annex  have  been  made 
carefully  from  one  of  the  best  models,  and  maybe  re- 
lied on  for  all  the  InfonuatiDu  that  can  be  jrathered 
from  them. 


ITS    CONSTRUCTION. 


509 


" — 


The  skoleton  fonsists  oltliiiH'  l<)u«,Mtu(linal  strips  of 
wood  on  each  side — it  would  be  wrong  to  cuil  tlieni 
timbers,  for  they  are  rarely  thicker  tlian  a  common 
plastering  hith  —  stretching  from  end  to  end,  and 
shielded  at  the  stem  and  stern  by  cutwaters  of  bone. 
The  upper  of  these,  the  gunwale,  if  1  may  call  it  so,  is 
~~v  >.-^     somewhat  stouter  than  the  others. 


-lie 


ijt 


—:.  -sgtzi:  '£\iQ  bottom  is  framed  by  three  siin- 
'' ' ^  ilar  longitudinal  strips.  These  are 
■'■'■■'  *  ■  crossed  by  other  strips  or  hoops, 
which  perform  the  office  of  knees  and  ribs :  they  are 
placed  at  a  distance  of  not  more  than  eight  to  ten 
inches  from  one  another.  Wherever  the  parts  of  this 
frame-work  meet  or  cross,  they  are  bound  together 
with  reindeer  tendon  very  artistically.  The  general 
outline  is,  I  think,  given  accurately  in  the  sketch  on 
the  opposite  page. 

Over  this  little  basket-work  of  wood  is  stretched  the 
coating  of  seal  hides,  which  also  covers  the  deck,  very 
neatly  sewed  with  tendon,  and  firmly  glued  at  the 
edges  by  a  composition  of  reindeer  horn  scraped  and 
liquefied  in  oil.  A  varnish  made  of  the  same  mate, 
rials  is  used  to  protect  the  whole  exterior. 

The  pah,  or  man-hole,  as  we  would  term  it,  is  very 


,  'i: 


510 


THE     IMTLEMEXTS. 


nearly  in  iha  centru  of  tho  little  vessel,  sonietiinos  a 
few  inches  toward  the  stern.  It  is  circular  or  nearly 
so,  wide  enough  to  let  the  kayacker  squeeze  his  hips 
through  it,  and  no  more.  It  has  a  rim  or  lip,  secured 
upon  the  ijunwale,  and  rising  a  couple  of  inches  above 
the  deck,  so  as  to  permit  the  navigator  to  hind  it  wa- 
ter-tight around  his  person.  luimediately  in  front  of 
him  is  his  as-sdy-lruty  or  line  stand,  surmounted  hy  a 
reel,  with  the  scaling-line  snugly  coiled  about  it,  iiiid 
revolving  on  its  centre  with  the  slightest  touch.  He 
has  his  harpoon  and  his  lances  strapped  at  his  side; 
his  rifle,  if  he  owns  one,  stowed  away  securely  be- 
tween  decks. 

Just  behind  the  kayacker  rests  his  bladder-float  or 

air-bag,  an  air-tight  sack  of 
seal-skin,  always  kept  iiillat- 
ed,and  fastened  to  the  seal  in  ^r- 
line.  It  performs  the  doiililo 
oflice  of  a  buoy,  and  a  break 
or  drag  to  retard  the  motion  of  the  prey  after  it  is 
struck. 

The  harpoon,  or  principal  lance  [unahk),  is  also  at- 


t,  In. 


-<m 


Vice. 


tached  to  the  sealing-line.     It  is  a  most  ingenious  de- 
The  rod  or  staff'  is  divided  at  right  angles  in 

two  pieces,  which 
are  neatly  jointed 
or  hinged  with  ten- 
don strips,  but  so  braced  by  the  manner  in  which  the 
tendon  is  made  to  cross  and  bind  in  the  lashing,  that, 
except  when  the  two  parts  are  severed  by  lateral  press- 
ure, they  form  but  a  single  shaft.     The  point,  geuer- 


OF    THE     KAYACKER. 


511 


ally  ail  arrow-head  vi' 
bone,  lias  a  socket  to 
reeeivo  tlie  end  of  the 
A  .sliiil't:  it  disenfjfsif^es  it- 
self readily  iVoni  its 
phice,  but  still  remains  fast  to  the  end  of  tho  line. 
Thus,  Avhen  the  kayacker  has  struck  his  i>rey,  the 
sliaft  escapes  the  risk  of  breaking  from  a  pull  a<rainst 
'lie  j^raiu  by  bending  at  the  joint,  and  the  \mut  is 
( ;.rried  free  by  the  animal  ns  he  dives. 

At  the  right  centre  of  gravity  oi' the  linrpoon,  that 
point,  I  mean,  at  which  a  cudgel-player  would  grasp 
his  staff,  a  neatly-arranged  rrstits  or  ludder  [nnon-wk) 


e  In. 


OITMHK    1)11    i'.*<  K    oh     IIIK    NOON-SOK. 


I  

INSIUt:   on   SECTION    OK   THE   NOON-SOK. 


fits  itself  on  the  shaft.  It  serves  to  give  the  kayacker 
a  good  grip  when  casting  his  weapon,  but  slides  off 
from  it,  and  is  left  in  the  hand,  at  the  moment  of 
drawing  back  his  arm.     The  bird  javelin  {tK'i(->'c-ak), 


Bill. 


Uie seal lance(^///-^'-///^-rr-/^>), ii iid  the  rude  hum hiir-knife 


afi 


''■"•-'*"■ -WlTlT^ III'      1    i"Mgni 

«  In. 


iO 


{ka-poot),  will  be  easily  understood  from  my  sketches. 


a  I« 


512 


THE    kayacker; 


The  paddle  (pa-uh-teet),  about  which  a  knowing 
Esquimaux  will  waste  as  many  words  as  a  sporting 
gentleman  upon  a  double-barreled  Mantc^  or  a  bridle- 
bit  ol"  peculiar  fancy,  is  in  every  respect  a  beautifully 
considered  instrument.  It  never  exceeds  seven  feet 
in  length.  It  is  double-bladed,  and  its  central  por- 
tion, which  receives  the  hands,  presents  an  ellipsoid 
face,  M'ell  adapted  to  a  secure  grasp.  The  blades  are 
four  inches  in  width,  and  some  two  feet  in  length, 
forming  very  nearly  sections  of  a  cone.  Their  edges 
and  tips  are  carefully  guarded  from  the  cutting  action 
of  the  ice  by  the  ivory  of  the  walrus  or  narwhal. 

Thus  constructed  and  furnished,  its  seal-skin  cover- 
ing renewed  every  year,  the  kayack  is  the  life,  and 
pastime,  and  pride  of  its  owner.  He  carries  it  on  his 
shoulder  into  the  surf,  clad  in  his  water-proof  seal-skin 
dress,  belted  close  round  the  neck,  his  hood  firmly  set 
above ;  wedges  himself  into  the  man-hole,  unites  him- 
self by  a  lashing  to  its  rim,  and  paddles  off  for  a  frolic 
outside  the  breakers,  or  it  may  be  a  seal-hunt,  or  to 
throw  his  javelin  at  the  eider,  or  perhaps  to  carry  (lis- 
patches  to  some  distant  settlement,  or  to  take  part  in 
a  crusade  against  the  reindeer. 

In  their  long  excursions  in  search  of  deer,  the  ka- 
yackers  paddle  their  way  to  the  nearest  portage  along 
the  coast,  and  shoulder  their  little  skiff  till  they  resich 
the  interior  lakes.  Their  dexterity  is  admirable  in  the 
use  of  their  weapons.  I  have  seen  them  spear  the  eider 
on  the  wing  and  the  loon  as  he  was  diving.  Scud- 
ding along  at  a  rate  equal  to  that  of  a  five-oared  whale- 
boat,  they  fling  their  tiny  javelin  far  ahead,  and,  with- 
out interrupting  their  progress,  seize  it  as  they  pass. 

The  authorities  of  Greenland  communicate  con- 
stantly with  their  different  posts  by  means  of  the  ka- 


HIS    DEXTERITY. 


513 


along 
reach 
in  the 
}  eider 
Scud- 
whale- 
,  with- 
pass. 
e  coii- 
;he  ka- 


yack.  On  these  occasions  the  express  consists  of  two, 
traveling  together  for  assistance  and  fellowship.  They 
ore  expeditious,  and  proverbially  reliable.  They  travel 
only  during  the  day.  At  night  they  land  upon  some 
well-remembered  solitude ;  the  kayack  is  carried  up, 
and  laid  beside  the  leeward  lace  of  some  protecting 
rock,  and,  after  a  scanty  meal,  the  Husky  seats  him- 
self once  more  in  its  closely-fitting  hole;  then,  draw- 
ing over  him  his  water-tight  hood,  he  leans  for  sup- 
port against  the  naked  stone,  and  sleeps.  One  of  these 
messengers  arrived  at  llolsteinberg  while  we  were 
there  from  Fredericshaab,  three  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  in  ten  days ;  traveling  along  a  tempestuous  coast, 
with  varying  winds  and  currents,  at  a  mean  rate  of 
thirty-six  miles  a  day. 

It  is  said  the  expertness  of  the  kayacker  increases 
as  you  proceed  south.  If  the  natives  of  Julianshaab 
and  Lichtenfels  surpass  those  of  Egedesminde  and 
llolsteinberg,  their  feats  are  unnecessarily  wonderful. 
Here  are  some  of  thein,  not  performed  as  such,  but 
illustrating  the  accomplishments  of  a  well-trained 
man. 

Extending  out  from  an  offsetting  mountain-ridge  to 
the  north  of  Holsteinberg,  is  a  rocky  reef  or  ledge,  over 
which  the  sea  breaks  heavily,  and  the  currents  run 
with  perplexing  caprice  and  force.  In  almost  all  sorts 
of  weather,  if  there  be  only  light  enough  to  see,  the 
kayacks  may  be  met  playing  about  these  surf-beaten 
passages,  regardless  of  wind,  swell,  or  tides.  When 
our  vessel  was  entering  port,  we  were  boarded  by  a 
kayack  pilot.  In  spite  of  the  heavy  seaway,  he  ap- 
proached fearlessly  to  the  side  of  the  brig,  then,  pois- 
ing himself  on  the  slope  of  the  waves,  he  avoided  the 
trough,  and,  passing  a  running  bowline  fore  and  aft 


514 


FEATS     Ol-    TUli     KAYACKIiR. 


ovor  his  littlo  craft,  man  and  boat  were  lifted  bodily 
on  board. 

Going  out  to  seaward,  with  a  heavy  inshore  surf 
rolling,  is  no  trille,  even  to  well-nmnned  whale-bouts 
The  kayacker  paddles  quietly  out  toward  the  break- 
ers. The  roaring  lip  of  green  water  bends  roof-liko 
over  him.  Down  cowers  the  pliant  nuin,  his  right 
shoulder  buried  in  the  water,  and  his  hooded  hciul 
bowed  upon  his  breast.  An  instant  and  he  emerges 
on  the  outer  side  with  a  jutting  impulse,  shaking  iIih 
water  from  liis  mane,  and  preparing  I'or  a  fresh  en- 
counter. 

The  somerset,  the  "cantrum,"  as  the  whalers  teini 
it,  may  be  seen  ajiy  hour  of  the  day  for  a  plug  of  to- 
bacco or  a  glass  of  rum.  I  have  seen  it  with  dilierent 
degrees  of  address  ;  but  one,  that  Mr.  Miiller,  the  g(»v- 
ernor  of  llolsteinberg,  told  me  of,  is  the  perfecticui  of 
dextrous  overturning.  The  kayacker  takes  a  stone, 
as  large  as  he  can  grasp  in  his  hand,  holding  the  })aii. 
die  by  the  imperfect  grip  of  the  thumbs.  He  whirls 
his  hands  over  his  head,  upsets  his  little  bark,  burifo 
it  bottom  up,  and  rights  himself  on  the  other  side, 
still  holding  the  stone. 

But  after  all,  the  crowning  feat  is  the  every-day 
one  of  catching  the  seal.  For  this  the  kayack  is  con- 
structed, and  it  is  here  that  its  wonderful  adaptation 
of  purpose  is  best  displayed.  Without  describing  the 
admirable  astuteness  with  which  he  finds  and  ap- 
proaches his  prey,  let  us  suppose  the  kayacker  close 
upon  a  seal.  The  line-stand  is  carefully  examined,  tlie 
coil  adjusted,  the  attachments  to  the  body  of  the  boat 
so  fixed  that  the  slightest  strain  will  separate  them. 
The  bladder-float  is  disengaged,  and  the  harpoon  tipped 
with  its  barb,  which  forms  the  extremity  of  the  coil. 


ins     SI^AL     IIUiNT. 


515 


Til  an  instant  the  kayiickor  1ms  thrown  his  body 
back  and  sent  his  weapon  lionie.  Whirr!  goes  the 
little  coil,  nnd  tiie  float  is  bohbiiijr  over  the  water — 
not  far,  however,  for  the  barh  has  entered  the  lungs, 
iiiul  the  seal  nuist  rise  Ibr  breath.  Now  the  hariioon 
is  [>icke«l  up,  its  head  remaining  in  the  victim;  and 
the  kayack  conies  along.  Here  is  rec^uired  discretion 
as  well  as  address.  The  hunter  has  probably  but  two 
weapons,  a  lance  and  a  knife.  The  latter  he  can  not 
part  with,  and  even  the  lance  brings  liini  to  closer 
quarters  than  the  safety  ol"  his  cral't  would  invite;  lor 
the  contortions  of  a  large  seal  thus  wounded  may  tear 
it  at  some  of  the  seams,  and  the  merest  crevice  is  cer- 
tain destruction.  Jf  he  has  with  him  the  light  javelin 
which  he  uses  lor  spearing  birds,  he  may  be  tempted 
to  employ  it  now  ;  but  this,  1  believe,  is  not  altogether 
sportsmanlike. 

This  occasional  tendency  of  the  ice-raft  to  float 
across  the  bay  has  given  rise  to  some  fearful  accidents. 
It  would  be  diiticult  for  fiction  to  exceed  some  of 
tlie  stories  that  are  well  authenticated  of  these  poor 
nomads. 

Jvsqnimaux  who  have  gone  out  with  kayack  or 
sledge  have  been  mourned  as  dead.  Years  afterward 
messages  have  come  by  the  whalers  of  their  safety  in 
the  unknown  regions  of  the  West,  and  of  their  adop- 
tion there;  but  after  trials  too  fearful  to  be  recounted. 
Some  years  ago — the  year  was  mentioned,  but  I  have 
forgot  it — a  couple  of  Esquimaux,  relatives,  set  out  on 
a  sledge  in  quest  of  seal.  The  great  ice-plain  I'ormed 
one  continuous  sheet  from  the  Greenland  shore  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach.  During  the  night,  one  of 
them,  awaking  from  a  heavy  sleep,  found  that  the  wind 
had  shifted  to  the  eastward.     It  was  blowing  gently, 


51(5 


CONCLUSION. 


and  (MHild  hardly  have  been  blowing  hmg.  They  Imr. 
nessed  in  their  dotrs,  urged  them  to  their  utmost  sjM'ed, 
and  nmdo  for  the  land  they  had  left.  Too  hite !  u 
yawning  ehasni  of  open  water  hiy  already  betw(feii. 
A  day  was  lo8t  in  frantie  despair.  It  hUiw  a  gal<>,  an 
olfshoro  southeaster.  The  fog  rose,  the  wind  still  from 
the  east:  the  shore  was  gone. 

The  story  is  a  wild  one.  They  reharnesscd  the  dogs, 
and  turned  to  the  west,  one  hundred  and  thirty  track- 
loss  miles  of  ice  before  them.  On  the  third  day  the 
dogs  gave  out:  one  of  the  lost  men  killed  his  fellow, 
and  revived  the  animals  with  his  lU*sh.  The  wretch- 
ed  survivor  at  hist  reached  the  North  Ameri(*nn  shore 
about  Merchant's  Bay.  Years  afterward,  this  account 
came  over  by  a  circuitous  channel  to  the  CVcenland 
settlement.  He  had  married  a  new  wife,  had  a  new 
family,  a  new  home,  a  new  country,  from  wI'.vjIi,  had 
he  desired  it  never  so  much,  there  could  be  for  him 
no  return. 

The  traditions  of  all  the  settlements  have  tales  of 
similar  disaster.  Yet  the  Esquimaux  are  a  happy  race 
of  people,  happy  so  far  as  conicnt  and  an  elastic  tem- 
perament go  to  uiake  up  happiness. 

AVo  left  tlio  settlements  of  Baffin's  Bay  on  the  Otii 
of  September,  1851,  grateful  exceedingly  to  the  kind- 
hearted  officers  of  tlio  Danish  posts;  and  aller  a  run  of 
pome  twenty-four  d:iys,  unnuirked  by  incident,  tou<'li- 
ed  our  native  soil  again  at  New  York.  Our  noblo 
fiiend,  Henry  Grinnoll,  was  the  firtjt  to  welcome  us  on 
tlic  pier-head. 


•y  liar. 

>it(^ !  a 
twt'on. 
iil<',  ail 
ill  iVuin 


10  (l<»;?s, 
,'  truck* 
lay  the 
Icllow, 
wretch- 
n  shore 
account 
[HMilaiid 
I  a  new 
Lv;ii,  had 
libr  hi  III 


m 


;alos  of 
)y  race 
ic  tem- 


i( 


the  Gth 

)  kind- 
run  (>•' 
toucli- 
nolle! 
o  us  oil 


1 II  J 


W  .'i.*^'J 

ij!:'   .!  ^..'^  ■ 

ill       .:      t 

■■Hi  ■ 

J.'. 


w 


.Kg 


I 


HAUPOOMNO  SEALS. 


• 


CIIAPTEll  XXXTV. 
DR  KANE'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION. 

fn  the  month  of  Docoiubcr,  1852,  Dr.  Kane  received 
special  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  "to 
coiKhict  an  expedition  to  the  Arctic  .seas,  in  search  of 
Sii-  John  Franklin." 

This  Second  Expedition,  in  the  brig  "  Advance,"  left 
New  York  on  the  oOth  day  of  May,  1853,  escoi'ted  by 
several  steamers ;  and,  passing  slowly  on  to  the  Nar- 
rows amifl  salutes  and  cheers  oi"  farewell,  cast  off  froin 
the  steam-tug  and  put  to  sea. 

The  party,  all  told,  consisted  of  eighteen  persons : 

ElisliJi  Kent  Kane,  Commander.     Hrnry  Brooks,  Fii-st  Oiiicer. 

Isaac  I.  Ilayrs,  Sur;fron.  Aujiiist  Sonta'^',  Astroiioiiier. 

William  Morton,  Jamos  ^SlefJary,  John  W.  Wilson,  Amos  Ronsall, 
Geor-je  I'ilcy,  Gi'or^t!  Stt'i)licnson.  Clirislian  Olilsoii.  G('or;;i'  Wliijiplo, 
William  Goillrcy,  Henry  (joodti'llow,  John  Blake,  Jeil'erson  Baker,  Peter 
Sehiiliert,  Thomas  Iliekey. 

The  history  of  this  P]xpcdition  was  ]niblislied  after 
the  return  of  its  surviving  mondiers,  and  at  once  took 
rank  as  the  most  interesting:  and  most  fascinatino* 
Avork  in  the  catalogue  of  Arctic  literature — an  em- 
inence which  it  to-day  enjoys.  Although  Dr.  Kane 
stands  in  the  front  rank  of  Arctic  adventurers,  his 
e(pial1y  eminent  snccoss  as  an  author  is  unquestioned. 
The  following  extracts  from  "Arctic  Explorations" 
can  only  serve  to  give  the  outlines  of  the  expedition, 
and  a  few  of  the  experiences  of  the  partv : 

510 


r^  m. 


*i»« 


H'. 


,,1       fr.       V 


n.  ■ 


4:^ 


i^'aSra^H 

IbRmkAI^^Hh 

iW 

iORMi^'aW 

■  '' 

llH^W''aH 

;  W' 

nlllR''l^ 

^^KrKf'vH' 

i 

H^fibKI 

6'    V\-<  ■ 
*-5  fl  jfc 


if 


-*\r,$\\. 


3 


H:,||  ^: 


(i" 


520 


DR.   KANE  S    SECOND    EXPEDITION. 


s 


I 


'•"Wo  entcretl  tlio  li{irl)oi'  of  Fi.skernaes  on  the  Istof 
July,  iuuid  the  chiinor  of  its  entire  population,  assem- 
bled on  the  rocks  to  greet  us.  This  place  has  an  en- 
viable reputation  for  climate  and  health.  Except  per- 
haps Ilolsteinberg,  it  is  the  dryest  station  upon  the 
coast ;  and  the  springs  which  well  through  the  mosses, 
fre(|uently  remain  untrcjzen  throughout  the  year. 

"  We  found  Mr.  Lassen,  the  superintending  official  of 
the  Danish  Company,  a  hearty,  single-minded  man, 
fond  01  his  wife,  his  children,  and  his  pipe.  The  visit 
of  our  ])rig  was,  oi"  course,  an  incident  to  be  marked  in 
the  simple  annals  of  his  colony;  and,  even  belbre  I 
had  shown  him  my  oHicial  letters,  from  the  Court  of 
Denmark,  he  had  most  hospitably  proffered  everything 
for  our  acconmiodation. 

''Feeling  that  our  dogs  would  require  fresh  provis- 
ions, which  could  hardly  be  spared  from  our  supplies  on 
shipboard,  I  availed  myself  of  Mr.  Lassen's  influence 
to  obtain  an  Esquimaux  hunter  for  our  party.  He 
reconnnended  to  me  one  Hans  Christian,  a  ])oy  of  nine- 
teen, as  an  expert  with  the  k.ayak  and  javelin ;  and 
after  Hans  had  Lnven  me  a  touch  of  his  qualitv  bv 
spearing  a  bird  on  the  wing,  I  engaged  him.  He  Avns 
fat,  good-natured,  and,  except  under  the  excitements 
of  the  hunt,  as  stolid  and  unimpressible  as  one  of  our 
own  Indians. 

"Bidding  good-bye  to  the  governor,  whose  hospital- 
ity we  had  shared  liberally,  we  put  to  sea  on  Saturday. 
the  10th,  beating  to  the  northward  and  westward  in 
the  teeth  of  a  heavy  gale. 

"  On  the  IGth  we  passed  the  promontory  of  Swarte- 
hnk,  and  were  welcomed  the  next  day  at  Pro\en  l)y 
my  old  friend  Christiansen,  the  superintendent,  and 
fouiid   his^  family  much  as  I  left  them  three  years 


FASTEN Kl)  TO  AN    R'KUKKO. 


tW&W 


L<liii£»i 


? 

% 

l'"1! 


PARTINO    IIAWSKRS    OFF    OOOllSF.Mi    I.KI"!K. 


DR.    KANE  S    SECOND    EXPEDITION. 


523 


before.  Frederick,  his  son,  had  married  a  native  wo- 
man, and  added  a  summer  tent,  a  hali-breed  boy,  and 
a  Danish  rifle  to  his  stock  of  vahiables.  My  former 
patient,  Anna,  had  united  fortunes  with  a  fjitrfaced  Es- 
quimau >:,  and  was  the  mother  of  a  chubby  Httle  girl. 
Madame  Christiansen,  who  counted  all  these  and  so 
many  others  as  her  happy  progeny,  was  hearty  and 
warm-hearted  as  ever. 

"August  1.  Beset  thoroughly  with  drifting  ice, 
small  rotten  floe-pieces.  But  for  our  berg,  we  would 
now  be  carried  to  the  south  ;  as  it  is,  we  drift  with  it, 
to  the  north  and  east. 

"  2  A.  M.  The  continued  pressure  against  our  berg 
has  begun  to  affect  it ;  and,  like  the  great  floe  all 
around  us,  it  has  taken  up  its  line  of  march  toward  the 
south.  At  the  risk  of  being  entangled,  I  ordered  a  light 
line  to  bo  carried  out  to  a  much  larger  berg,  and,  after 
four  hours'  labor,  made  fast  to  it  securely.  This  berg 
is  a  moving  breakwater,  and  of  gigantic  proportions : 
it  keeps  its  course  steadily  toward  the  north,  while  the 
loose  ice  drifts  by  on  each  side,  leaving  a  wake  of  black 
water  for  a  mile  behind  us. 

"About  10  r.  M.  the  immediate  danger  was  past; 
and,  espying  a  lead  to  the  northeast,  we  got  under 
weigh,  and  pushed  over  in  spite  of  the  drifting  trash. 
The  men  worked  with  a  will,  and  Ave  bored  through 
the  floes  in  excellent  style. 

"On  our  road  we  were  favored  with  a  o-orfreous 
spectacle,  which  hardly  any  excitement  of  peril  could 
have  made  us  overlook.  The  midnight  sun  came  out 
over  the  northern  crest  of  the  great  berg,  our  late 
"  fast  friend,"  kindling  variously-colored  fires  on  every 
part  of  its  surface,  and  making  the  ice  around  us  one 
great  resplendency  of  gcmwork,  blazing  carbuncles, 
and  rubies  and  molten  gold. 

31 


^'7^ 


% 


524 


ARCTIC    PILLARS   OF    HERCULES. 


Vh: 


I 


"  August  6.  Cape  Alexander  and  Cape  Isabella,  the 
headlands  of  Smith's  Sound,  are  now  in  sight ;  on 
the  right  we  have  an  array  of  cliffs,  whose  frowning 
grandeur  might  dignify  the  entrance  to  the  proudest 
of  southern  seas.  I  should  say  they  would  average 
from  four  to  five  hundred  yards  in  height,  with  some 
of  their  precipices  eight  hundred  feet  at  a  single  step. 
They  have  been  until  now  the  Arctic  pillars  of  Hercu- 
les ;  and  they  look  down  on  us  as  if  they  challenged 
our  right  to  pass.  Even  the  sailors  are  impressed,  as 
we  move  under  their  dark  shadow. 

"August  20.  By  Saturday  morning  it  blew  a 
perfect  hurricane.  We  had  seen  it  coming,  and  were 
ready  with  three  good  hawsers  out  ahead,  and  all 
things  snug  on  board. 

"  Still  it  came  on  heavier  and  heavier,  and  the  ice 
began  to  drive  more  wildly  than  I  thought  I  had  ever 
seen  it.  I  had  just  turned  in  to  warm  and  dry  myself 
during  a  momentary  lull,  and  was  stretching  myself 
out  in  my  bunk,  when  I  heard  the  sharp  twanging 
snap  of  a  cord.  Our  six-inch  hawser  had  parted,  antl 
we  were  swinging  by  the  two  others ;  the  gale  roaring 
like  a  lion  to  the  southward. 

"  Half  a  minute  more,  and  '  twang,  twang ! '  came  a 
second  report.  I  knew  it  was  the  whale-line  l)y  the 
shrillness  of  the  ring.  Our  noble  ten-inch  manilla  still 
held  on.  I  was  hurrying  my  last  sock  into  its  seal- 
skin boot,  when  McGary  came  waddling  down  the 
companion-ladder : — '  Captain  Kane,  she  won't  hold 
much  longer:  it's  blowing  the  devil  himself,  and  I  am 
afraid  to  surge.' 

"  The  manilla  cable  Avas  proving  its  excellence  when 
I  reached  the  deck ;  and  the  crew,  as  they  gathered 
round  me  were  loud  in  its  praises.     We  could  hear  its 


DR.   KANE  S   SECOND   EXPEDITION. 


525 


deep  Eolian  chant,  swelling  tlirougli  all  the  rattle  of 
the  running-gear  and  moaning  of  the  shrouds.  It  was 
the  death-song!  The  strands  gave  way,  witli  the 
noise  of  a  shotted  gun  ;  and  in  the  smoke  that  fol- 
lowed their  recoil,  we  were  dragged  out  by  the  wild 
ice,  at  its  mercy. 

"  But  a  new  enemy  came  in  sight  ahead.  Directly 
in  our  way,  just  beyond  the  line  of  floe-ice  against 
which  we  were  alternately  sliding  and  thumping, 
was  a  group  of  bergs.  We  had  no  power  to  avoid 
tlicui ;  and  the  only  question  was  whether  we  were  to 
be  dashed  in  pieces  against  them,  or  whether  they 
might  not  ofler  us  some  providential  nook  of  refuge  from 
the  storm.  But,  as  we  neared  them,  we  perceived  tliat 
they  were  at  some  distance  from  the  floe-edge,  and  sep- 
arated from  it  by  an  interval  of  open  water.  Our 
liopes  rose,  as  the  gale  drove  us  toward  this  passage, 
and  into  it;  and  we  were  ready  to  exult,  when,  from 
some  unexplained  cause, — probably  an  eddy  of  the 
wind  against  the  lofty  ice-walls, — we  lost  our  headway. 
Almost  at  the  same  moment,  we  saw  that  the  bergs 
were  not  at  rest ;  that  with  a  momentum  of  their  own 
they  were  bearing  down  upon  the  other  ice,  and  that 
it  must  be  our  fate  to  be  crushed  between  the  two. 

"  Just  then,  a  broad  sconce-piece  or  low  water-washed 
berg  came  driving  up  from  the  southward.  The 
thought  flashed  upon  me  of  one  of  our  escapes  in  Mel- 
ville Bay ;  and  as  the  sconce  moved  rapidly  close  along- 
side us,  McGary  managed  to  plant  an  anchor  on  its 
slope,  and  hold  on  to  it  by  a  whale-line.  It  was  an 
anxious  moment.  Our  noble  tow-horse,  whiter  than 
the  pale  horse  that  seemed  to  be  pursuing  us,  hauled 
us  bravely  on ;  the  spray  dashing  over  his  windward 
flanks,  and  his  forehead  ploughing  up  the  lesser  ice,  as 


,' Hit  ' 


&if 


52o 


RENSSELAER    IIARUOR. 


w 


f#'! 


if  in  scorn.  Tlio  bergs  encroached  upon  us  as  we  ad. 
vanced :  our  channel  narrowed  to  width  of  perluips 
forty  ieet:  we  braced  tlie  yards  to  clear  the  Impend- 
ing ice-walls. 

•'  We  passed  clear ;  but  it  was  a  close  shave, — so 
close  that  our  port  quarter-boat  would  have  been 
crushed  if  we  had  not  t{d<en  it  in  from  the  davits, — and 
found  ourselves  under  the  lee  of  a  berg,  in  a  compara- 
tively open  lead.  Never  did  heart-tired  uien  acknowl- 
edge with  more  gratitude  their  merciful  deliverance 
from  a  wretched  death." 

After  forcing  a  passage  for  a  week  longer,  with  a 
constant  repetition  of  the  scenes  just  described,  Dr. 
Kane  held  a  grand  council  with  his  officers,  and  with 
one  exception,  Henry  Bi'ooks,  they  were  in  favor  of 
returning  southward  to  winter.  Not  being  able  to 
take  the  same  view,  Dr.  Kane  aimoiuicod  his  intention 
of  working  to\vards  the  northren headland  of  the  bay: 
once  there,  he  would  put  the  brig  into  winter  harbor 
at  the  first  suitable  place.  In  his  decision  they  all 
cheerfully  acquiesced.  Finally,  on  the  7th  of  8ep- 
temljer,  the  "  Advance "  was  anchored  in  Rensselaer 
Harbor,  and  by  the  10th,  was  linnly  frozen  in.  '"The 
same  ice  is  around  her  still." 

Preparations  for  the  winter's  residence  at  this  place 
were  at  once  commenced ;  journeys  were  made 
towards  the  interior,  and  a  party  of  seven  men  set 
off  September  20th,  dragging  a  sledge  load  of  pcm- 
mican,  to  establish  the  first  of  a  chain  of  provision  de- 
pots along  the  coast,  for  the  benefit  of  exploring  par- 
ties to  be  sent  out  the  next  sprino-.  On  the  10th  of 
October,  Kane  w^ith  a  dog  team,  and  Blake  on  skates, 
started  off  to  look  for  the  absent  party,  who  had  not 
returned  when  expected. 


KVI.VIA    IIKAKI.ANK.- -INSl'K(TlN(i    A    IIAKIIOB. 


,?^-.- 


;  i    '1 


|:v*«tt» 


1 

V 

1 

t 

1 

-^  • 

f 

t: 

■■'.'**■  t 

iiL 

ii ' 

ill 

!" 

a 

1 

r  > 

1 

1 

1 

■ 

■ 

CAMr    ON    THE   FLOES. 


529 


"On  tho  morning-  of  tlio  15tli,  about  two  hours  be- 
fore the  late  Hunrise,  as  I  was  preparin^^  to  oUnib  a 
berg  IVoui  which  I  might  have  a  sight  of  the  road 
ahead,  I  perceived  far  off  upon  tiie  white  snow  a  dark 
object,  which  not  only  moved,  l)ut  altered  its  shape 
strangely,  —  now  expanding  into  a  long  black  line, 
now  waving,  now  gathering  itself  up  into  a  compact 
mass.  It  was  the  returning  sledge  party.  Tlu'y  had 
seen  our  black  tent  of  Kedar,  and  ferried  Jicross  to 
seek  it    ' 

'•  They  were  most  welcome  ;  for  their  absence,  in  the 
fearfully  open  state  of  the  ice,  had  fdled  me  with 
apprehensions.  We  could  not  distinguish  each 
other,  as  we  drew  near  in  the  twilight;  and  my 
iirst  good  news  of  them  was  when  I  heard  that  they 
were  singing.  On  they  came,  and  at  last  1  was  able 
to  count  their  voices,  one  by  one.  Thank  Cod,  seven  I 
Poor  John  Blake  was  so  breathless  with  gratulation, 
that  1  could  not  get  him  to  blow  his  signal-horn.  We 
gave  them,  instead,  the  good  old  Anglo-Saxon  greet- 
inj--,  "  three  cheers  I "  and  in  a  few  minutes  were  amonrc 
them. 

"  They  had  camped  one  night  under  the  lee  of  some 
large  icebergs,  and  within  hearing  of  the  grand  artil- 
lery of  the  glacier.  The  floe  on  which  their  tent  was 
pitched  was  of  recent  and  transparent  ice ;  and  the 
party,  too  tired  to  seek  a  safer  asylum,  had  turned  in 
to  rest ;  when,  with  a  crack  like  the  snap  of  a  gigantic 
whip,  the  ice  opened  directly  beneath  them.  This  was, 
as  nearly  as  they  could  estimate  the  time,  at  about 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  darkness  was  in- 
tense; and  the  cold,  about  10°  below  zero,  was  in- 
creased by  a  wind  which  ble:v  from  the  northeast  over 
the  glacier.     They  gathered  together  their  tent  and 


y«ii.S 


\m 

i 

mm 

i 

lljSB'j 

M 

nvsmi 

ipff 

H  k''^mn| 

f '  1 

|{Hf|'3^ 

ri.  1' 

fir 

Ivl 

530 


ClIRIHTMAH    FESTIVITIES, 


r'; 


slooping  furs,  nnd  lanlicd  tlioin  according  to  tlio  best 
of  tlu'ir  ability,  upon  the  sledgo. 

"Kopt'uted  intonationH  warned  them  that  the  ice  was 
breaking  up;  a  swell, evidently  produced  from  the  av- 
alanclu^M  from  the  glacier,  caused  the  platform  on 
•which  they  stood  to  rock  to  and  fro. 

'•  November  IG.  Poor  ITauH  has  been  sorely  home- 
sick. Three  days  ago  he  bundled  up  his  clothes  and 
took  his  rifle  to  bid  us  all  good-bye.  It  turns  out  that  be- 
sides his  mother,  there  is  another  one  of  the  softer  sex 
at  Fiskernaes  that  the  boy's  heart  is  dreaming  of.  Ho 
looked  as  wretched  as  any  lover  of  a  milder  clime.  1 
hope  I  have  treated  his  nostalgia  successfully,  by  giv- 
ing him  first  a  dose  of  salts,  and  secondly,  promotion. 
lie  lias  now  all  the  dignity  of  henchman.  lie  har- 
nesses my  dogs,  builds  my  tra[)s,  and  walks  Avith  me 
on  my  ice-tramps;  and,  except  hunting,  is  excused 
from  all  other  duty.  Tie  is  really  attached  to  me,  and 
as  happy  as  a  fat  man  ought  to  be. 

"December  15.  AVe  have  lost  the  last  vestiiro 
of  our  mid-day  twilight.  We  cannot  sec  print,  and 
hardly  paper:  the  fingers  cannot  be  counted  a  foot 
from  the  eyes.  Noonday  and  midnight  an.'  alike,  and, 
except  a  vague  glinmier  on  the  sky  that  seems  to  de- 
fine the  hill  outline  to  the  south,  we  have  nothing 
to  tell  us  that  this  Arctic  world  of  ours  has  a  sun.  In 
one  week  more  we  shall  reach  the  midnight  of  the 
year. 

"  December  26.  Our  anxieties  for  old  Grim  might 
have  interfered  with  almost  any  thing  else  ;  but  they 
could  not  arrest  our  celebration  of  yesterday.  Dr. 
Hayes  made  us  a  well-studied  oration,  and  Morton  a 
capital  punch;  add  to  these  a  dinner  of  marled  beef, 
— we  have  two  pieces  left,  for  the  sun's  return  and  the 


TH  K    RKTIT  IININO    HUN. 


531 


Fourth  of  July, — nnd  a  bumper  of  rlinnipngiio  nil 
roiuul ;  nnd  the  elements  of  our  frolic  are  nil  regis- 
tered. 

*'  Janunry  20.  This  morning  nt  five  o'clock — for  T  nm 
go  alllicted  with  the  insonmium  of  tluH  eternal  night 
that  I  rise  nt  nny  time  between  midnight  nnd  noon  — 
I  went  upon  deck.  It  was  absolutely  dark;  the  cnld 
not  permitting  a  swinging  lamp.  There  was  not  a 
glimmer  came  to  me  through  the  ice-crusted  window- 
panes  of  the  cabin.  While  I  was  feeling  my  way,  half 
puzzled  as  to  the  best  method  of  steering  clear  of 
whatever  might  be  before  me,  two  of  my  Newfound- 
land dogs  put  their  cold  noses  against  my  hand,  and 
instantly  commenced  the  most  exuberant  antics  of 
witisfaction.  It  then  occurred  to  me  how  very  dreary 
nnd  forlorn  must  these  poor  annuals  be,  at  atiuosj)here 
of  + 10°  in-doors  and — 50°  without, — living  in  dark- 
ness, howling  at  an  accidental  light,  as  if  it  reminded 
them  of  the  moon, — and  with  nothing,  either  of  in- 
stinct or  sensation,  to  tell  them  of  the  passing  hours, 
or  to  explain  the  long-lost  daylight.  They  shall  see 
the  lanterns  more  frequently. 

"  February  1.  We  have  seen  the  sim,  for  some  days, 
silvering  the  ice  between  the  headlands  of  the  hny ; 
and  to-day,  toward  nooi,  I  started  out  to  be  the  first 
of  my  party  to  welcome  him  back.  It  was  the  long- 
est walk  and  toughest  climb  that  I  have  had  since  our 
imprisonment;  and  scurvy  a!id  general  debility  have 
made  me  *  short  o' wind.'  But  I  managed  to  attain 
my  object.  I  saw  him  once  more  ;  and  upon  a  ]iro- 
jecting  crag  nestled  in  the  sunshine.  It  was  like 
bathing  in  perfumed  water. 

"March  LS.  Since  January,  we  have  been  working 
at  the  sledges  and  other  preparations  for  travel.     The 


It 


M 


f^ 


:%iQ 


I  j-  ■  f  I' 


wis     -'s  • 


532 


SUDDEN     ALARM. 


death  of  my  clogs,  the  rugged  obstacles  of  the  ice, 
and  the  intense  cold  have  o])liged  me  to  reorganize  our 
whole  equipment.  We  have  had  to  discard  all  our 
India-rubber  fancy-work :  canvas  shoe-making,  fur- 
socking  sewing,  carpentering,  are  all  going  on ;  and 
the  cabin,  our  only  fire-warmed  apartment,  is  the 
work-shop,  kitchen,  parlor,  and  hall. 

"Not  a  man  now,  except  Pierre  and  Morton,  is  ex- 
empt from  scurvy ;  and,  as  I  look  around  upon  tlie  pale 
faces  and  haggard  looks  of  my  comrades,  I  feel  that  we 
are  fighting  the  battle  of  life  at  disadvantage,  and  that 
an  Arctic  night  and  an  Arctic  day  age  a  man  more 
rapidly  and  harshly  than  a  year  anywhere  else  in  all 
this  weary  world. 

"  March  20.  I  saw  the  depot  -party  off  yesterday. 
They  gave  the  usual  three  cheers,  with  three  for  my- 
self. I  gave  them  the  whole  of  my  l)rother's  wed- 
ding cake,  and  my  last  two  bottles  of  Port,  and  tlicy 
pulled  the  sledge  they  were  harnessed  to  famously. 
The  party  were  seen  by  MoGaryfrom  aloft,  at  noon  to- 
day, moving  easil}^,  and  about  twelve  miles  from  the 
brig. 

"  We  were  at  work  cheerfully,  sewing  away  at  the 
skins  of  some  moccasins  by  the  blaze  of  our  lamps, 
when,  toward  midnight  of  the  31st,  we  heard  the  noise 
of  steps  above,  and  the  next  minute  Sontag,  Ohlson, 
and  Petersen  came  down  into  the  cabin.  Their  man- 
ner startled  me  even  more  than  their  unexpected  ap- 
pearance on  board.  They  were  swollen  and  haggaid, 
and  hardly  able  to  speak. 

Their  story  was  a  fearful  one.  They  had  left  their 
com])anions  in  the  ice,  risking  their  own  lives  to  k)ring 
us  the  news :  Brooks,  Baker,  Wilson,  and  Pierre  Avcve 
all  lying  frozen  and  disabled.     W^here  '?     They  coukl 


the  ice, 
mizeour 
all  our 
Ing,  fur- 
on;  ill  id 
;,   is    the 


IN    THE    TENT. 


on,  IS  cx- 
i  the  pale 
1  that  we 
and  that 
lan  more 
[ilse  in  all 

rcstcrday. 
;e  for  uiy- 
ler's  wcd- 

and  they 
famously. 
t  noon  to- 

from  the 

^ay  at  the 

ur  lamps, 

the  noise 

.,  Ohiseii, 

lieir  nuni- 

)OCtcd  ap- 

haggard, 

lleft  thoir 
to  orhig 
rrc  Avc've 

Ley  could 


I'l.NNACLV    UEUU. 


THE   KK8CUE   I'AKTY. 


^.A  ^ik 


MmMfi 

ii«y-  '■{  ■!   !   It  ili,  It's  '-  » 


J'. 


li'ril 


i  I'! 


mhm 


if 


tmi 


B 


11 


I    1 


LOST    ON   THE   FLOES. 


535 


not  tell :  somewhere  in  among  the  hummocks  to  the 
north  and  east;  it  was  drifting  heavily  round  them 
when  they  parted.  Irish  Tom  had  stayed  by  to  feed 
and  care  for  the  others ;  but  the  chances  were  sorely 
against  them.  It  was  in  vain  to  question  them  further. 
They  had  evidently  traveled  a  great  distance,  for  they 
were  sinking  with  fatigue  and  hunger,  and  could 
hardly  be  rallied  enough  to  tell  us  the  direction  in 
which  they  had  come. 

"  My  first  impulse  was  to  move  on  the  instant  with 
an  unencumbered  party :  a  rescue,  to  be  eifective  or 
even  hopeful,  could  not  be  too  prompt.  What  pressed 
on  my  mind  most  was,  where  the  sufferers  were  to  be 
looked  for  among  the  drifts.  Ohlsen  seemed  to  have 
his  iaculties  rather  more  at  command  than  his  associ- 
ates, ana  I  thought  that  he  might  assist  us  as  a  guide ; 
but  he  was  sinking  with  exhaustion,  and  if  he  went 
with  us  we  must  carry  him. 

"There  was  not  a  moment  to  be  lost.  While  some 
were  still  busy  with  the  new-comers,  and  getting  ready 
a  hasty  meal,  others  were  rigging  out  the  "  Little  Wil- 
lie "  with  a  bufflilo-cover,  a  small  tent,  and  a  package  of 
pemmican ;  and,  as  soon  as  we  could  hurry  through 
our  arrangements,  Ohlson  was  strapped  on  in  a  fur 
bag,  his  legs  wrapped  in  dog-skins  and  eider-down,  and 
we  Avent  off  upon  the  ice.  Our  party  consisted  of 
nine  men  and  myself  We  carried  only  the  clothes 
on  our  backs. 

"A  well-known  peculiar  tower  of  ice,  called  by  the 
men  the  "  Pinnacly  Berg,"  served  as  our  first  landmark: 
other  icebergs  of  collossal  size,  which  stretched  in  long 
beaded  lines  across  the  bay,  helped  to  guide  us  after- 
ward ;  and  it  was  not  until  we  had  traveled  for  sixteen 
hours  that  we  began  to  lose  our  way. 


Ki 


W^  B  i 


■•■  %\i 


f'i 


Y'r. 


r 

li 


W'^ 


636 


THE    RESCUE   PARTY. 


"Pushing  ahead  of  the  pnrty,  and  clambering  over 
some  rugged  ice-piles,  I  came  to  a  long  level  floe,  which 
I  thought  might  probably  have  attracted  the  eyes  of 
weary  men  in  circumstances  like  our  own.  It  was  a 
light  conjecture,  but  it  was  enough  to  turn  the  scale, 
for  there  was  no  other  to  balance  it.  I  gave  orders  to 
abandon  the  sledge,  and  disperse  in  search  of  foot- 
marks. We  raised  our  tent,  placed  our  pemmican  in 
cache,  except  a  small  allowance  for  each  man  to  carry 
on  his  person;  and  poor  Ohlsen,  now  just  able  to  keep 
his  leg:-*,  was  liberated  from  his  bag.  The  thermome- 
ter had  fallen  by  this  time  to  — 49°.3,  and  the  wind 
was  setting  in  sharply  from  the  northwest.  It  was 
out  of  the  question  to  halt :  it  required  brisk  exer- 
cise to  keep  us  from  freezing.  I  could  not  even  melt 
ice  for  water ;  and,  at  these  temperatures,  any  resort 
to  snow  for  the  purpose  of  alla3'ing  thirst  was  fol- 
lowed by  bloody  lips  and  tongue :  it  burnt  like 
caustic. 

"  It  was  indispensable  then  that  we  should  move  on, 
looking  out  for  traces  as  we  went.  Yet  when  the  men 
were  ordered  to  spread  themselves,  so  as  to  multiply 
the  chances,  though  they  all  obeyed  heartily,  some 
painful  impress  of  solitary  danger,  or  perhaps  it  may 
hxive  been  the  varying  configuration  of  the  ice-field, 
kept  them  closing  up  continually  into  a  single  group. 
The  strange  manner  in  which  some  of  us  were  affected 
I  now  attribute  as  much  to  shattered  nerves  as  to  the 
direct  influence  of  the  cold.  Men  like  McGary  and 
Bonsall,  who  had  stood  out  our  severest  marches,  were 
seized  with  trembling  fits  and  short  breath  ;  and,  in 
spite  of  all  my  cffbrts  to  keep  up  an  example  of  sound 
bearing,  I  fainted  twice  on  the  snow. 

"We  had  been  nearly  eighteen  hours  out  without 


THE   WANDERERS    FOUND. 


537 


water  or  food,  when  a  new  hope  cheered  us.  I  thinlc 
it  was  Hans,  our  Esquimaux  hunter,  who  thought  he 
saw  a  broad  sledge-track.  The  drift  had  nearly 
eflliced  it,  and  we  were  some  of  us  doubtful  at  first 
whether  it  was  not  one  of  tho^e  accidental  rifts 
which  the  gales  make  in  the  surface  snoAv.  But,  as 
we  traced  it  on  to  the  deep  snow  among  the  hum- 
mocks, we  were  led  to  footsteps  ;  and,  following  these 
with  religious  care,  we  at  last  came  in  sight  of  a  small 
American  flag  fluttering  from  a  hummock,  and  lower 
down  a  little  Masonic  banner  hano-infr  from  a  tent- 
pole  hardly  above  the  drift.  It  was  the  camp  of  our 
disabled  comrades  :  we  reached  it  after  an  unbroken 
march  of  twenty-one  hours. 

"  The  little  tent  was  nearlv  covered.  I  Avas  not  amonrr 
tlic  first  to  come  up  j  but,  when  I  reached  the  tent  cur- 
tain, the  men  were  standing  in  silent  file  on  each  side 
of  it.  With  more  kindness  and  dellcacv  of  fcclincr 
than  is  often  supposed  to  belong  to  sailors,  but  which 
is  almost  characteristic,  they  intimated  their  wish  that 
I  should  go  in  alone.  As  I  crawled  in,  and,  coming 
upon  the  darkness,  heard  before  mo  the  burst  of  welcome 
gladness  that  came  from  the  four  poor  fellows  stretched 
on  their  backs,  and  then  for  the  first  time  the  cheer 
outside,  my  weakness  and  my  gratitude  together  al- 
most overcame  me.  "  They  had  expected  mo  :  they 
were  sure  I  would  come !  " 

'"'  We  were  now  fifteen  souls ;  the  thermometer  sev- 
enty-five degrees  below  the  freezing  point ;  and  our 
sole  accommodation  a  tent  barclv  able  to  contain  eis'-ht 
persons :  more  than  half  our  party  were  oljliged  to 
keep  from  freezing  by  walking  outside  while  the  oth- 
ers slept.  We  could  not  halt  long.  Each  of  us  took 
a  turn  of  two  hours'  sleep ;  and  w^e  prepared  for  our 
homeward  march. 


h] 


m. 


^1 


538 


PERILS    OF    THE   RETURN. 


"  Wo  took  with  US  nothing  but  the  tent,  furs  to  pro- 
tect the  rescued  party,  and  food  for  a  journey  of  fifty 
hours.  Everything  else  was  abandoned.  Two  large 
buffalo-bags,  each  made  of  four  skins,  were  doubled 
up,  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  sack,  lined  on  each  side  by 
fur,  closed  at  the  bottom  but  opened  at  the  top.  This 
was  laid  on  the  sledge ;  the  tent,  smoothly  folded, 
serving  as  a  floor.  The  sick  with  their  limbs  sewed 
up  carefully  in  reindeer-skins  were  placed  upon  the 
bed  of  buffalo-robes,  in  a  half-reclining  posture  ;  otlier 
skins  and  blanketrbags  were  tlirown  above  them ;  and 
the  whole  litter  was  lashed  together  so  as  to  allow  but 
a  single  opening  opposite  the  mouth  for  breathing. 

"  This  necessary  work  cost  us  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
effort ;  but  it  was  essential  to  the  lives  of  the  suffer- 
ers. It  took  us  no  less  than  four  hours  to  strip  and 
refresh  them,  and  then  to  enable  them  in  the  manner 
I  have  described.  It  was  completed  at  last,  however; 
all  hands  stood  round ;  and  after  repeating  a  short 
prayer,  we  set  out  on  our  retreat. 

"  And  yet  our  march  lor  the  first  six  hours  was  very 
cheering.  We  made  by  vigorous  pulls  and  lifts  nearly 
a  mile  an  hour,  and  reached  the  new  floes  before  we 
were  absolutely  weary.  Our  sledge  sustained  the 
trial  admirably.  Ohlsen,  restored  by  hope,  walked 
steadily  at  the  leading  belt  of  the  sledge-lines ;  and  I 
began  to  feel  certain  of  reaching  our  half-way  station 
of  the  day  before,  where  we  had  left  our  tent.  But 
we  were  still  nine  miles  from  it,  when,  almost  without 
premonition,  we  all  became  aware  of  an  alarming  fail- 
ure of  our  energies. 

"  B'jnsall  and  Morton,  two  of  our  stoutest  men,  came 
to  me,  begging  permission  to  sleep :  "  they  were  not 
cold :  tlie  wind  did  not  enter  them  now :  a  little  sleep 


MEN    GIVING    OUT. 


539 


was  all  they  wanted."  Presently  Hans  was  found 
nearly  stiff  under  a  drift ;  and  Thomas,  bolt  upright, 
had  his  eyes  closcid,  and  could  hardly  articulate.  At 
last,  John  Blake  threw  himself  on  the  snow,  and  re- 
fused to  rise.  They  did  not  complain  of  feeling  cold ; 
but  it  was  in  vain  that  I  wrestled,  boxed,  ran,  argued, 
jeered,  or  reprimanded :  an  immediate  halt  could  not 
be  avoided. 

"  We  pitched  our  tent  with  much  difficulty.  Our 
hands  were  t(  )0  powerless  to  strike  a  fire :  we  were 
obliged  to  do  without  water  or  food.  Even  the  spirits 
(whisky)  had  frozen  at  the  men's  feet,  under  all 
the  coverings.  We  put  Bonsall,  Ohlsen,  Thomas,  and 
Hans,  with  the  other  sick  men,  well  inside  the  lent,  and 
crowded  in  as  many  others  as  we  could.  Then,  leav- 
ing the  party  in  charge  of  Mr.  McGary,  with  orders  to 
come  on  after  four  hours'  rest,  I  pushed  ahead  with 
William  Godfrey,  who  volunteered  to  be  my  compan- 
ion. My  aim  was  to  reach  the  halfway  tent,  and  thaw 
some  ice  and  pemmican  before  the  others  arrived. 

"  The  floe  was  of  level  ice,  and  the  walking  excellent. 
I  cannot  tell  how  long  it  took  us  to  make  the  nine 
miles ;  for  we  were  in  a  strange  sort  of  stupor,  and 
had  little  apprehension  of  time.  It  was  probably 
about  four  hours.  We  kept  ourselves  awake  by  im- 
posing on  each  other  a  continued  articulation  of  words; 
they  must  have  been  incoherent  enough.  I  recall 
these  hours  as  among  the  most  wretched  I  have  ever 
gone  through :  we  were  neither  of  us  in  our  right 
senses,  and  retained  a  very  confused  recollection  of 
what  preceded  our  arrival  at  the  tent.  We  both  of 
us,  however,  remember  a  bear,  who  walked  leisurely 
before  us  and  tore  up  as  he  went  a  jumper  that  Mr. 
McGary  had  improvidentiy  thrown  off  the  day  before. 


.1  '. ,  .''■».« 


Mm 


ill 


'tm 


540 


A    BIVOUAC. 


He  tore  it  into  shreds  and  rolled  it  into  a  ball,  but 
never  offered  to  interfere  with  our  })rogress.  I  remem- 
ber this,  and  with  it  a  confused  sentiment  that  our  tent 
and  buffalo-robes  might  probably  share  the  same  fate. 
Godfrey,  with  whom  the  memory  of  this  day's  work 
may  atone  for  many  faults  of  later  time,  had  a  better 
eye  than  myself;  and,  looking  some  miles  ahead,  he 
could  see  that  our  tent  was  undergoing  the  same  un- 
ceremonious treatment.  I  thought  I  saw  it  too,  but 
we  were  so  drunken  with  cold  that  we  strode  on 
steadily,  and^  for  aught  I  know,  without  quickening 
our  pace. 

"  Probably  our  approach  saved  the  contents  of  the 
tent;  for  when  we  reached  it  the  tent  was  uninjured, 
though  the  bear  had  overturned  it,  tossing  the  buffalo- 
robes  and  peramican  into  the  snow ;  we  missed  only  a 
couple  of  blanket-bags.  What  we  recollect,  however, 
and  perhaps  all  we  recollect,  is,  that  we  had  great 
difficulty  in  raising  it.  We  crawled  into  our  reindeer 
sleeping-bags,  without  speaking,  and  for  the  next 
three  hours  slept  on  in  a  dreamy  but  intense  slum- 
ber. 

"  We  were  able  to  melt  water  and  get  some  soup 
cooked  before  the  rest  of  our  party  arrived  ;  it  took 
them  but  five  hours  to  walk  the  nine  miles.  They 
were  doing  well,  and  considering  the  circumstances,  in 
wonderful  spirits.  The  day  was  most  providentially 
windless,  with  a  clear  sun.  All  enjoyed  the  refresh- 
ment we  had  got  ready :  the  crippled  were  repacked 
in  their  robes ;  and  we  sped  briskly  toward  the  hum- 
mock ridges  which  lay  between  us  and  the  Pinnacly 
Berg. 

"  Our  halts  multiplied  and  we  fell  half-sleeping  on 
the  snow.   I  could  not  prevent  it.    Strange  to  say,  it  re- 


RELIEF    FllOM    THE    B  III  O . 


541 


frcslicd  us.  I  venturod  upon  the  experiment  myself^ 
making  Riley  wake  me  at  the  end  of  three  minutes ; 
and  1  felt  so  much  benefited  by  it  that  I  timed  the 
men  in  the  same  way.  They  sat  on  the  runners  of 
the  sledge,  fell  asleep  instantly,  and  were  forced  to 
wakefulness  when  their  three  minutes  were  out. 

'•  By  eight  in  the  evening  we  emerged  from  the  floes. 
The  sight  of  the  Pinnacly  Berg  revived  us.  Brandy, 
an  invaluable  resource  in  emergency,  had  already  been 
served  out  in  tablespoonful  doses.  We  now  took  a 
longer  rest,  and  a  last  but  stouter  dram,  and  reached 
the  brig  at  1  r.  m.,  we  believe  without  a  halt. 

"  I  say  we  believe  ;  and  here  perhaps  is  the  most  de- 
cided proof  of  our  suflferings :  we  were  quite  delirious, 
and  had  ceased  to  entertain  a  sane  apprehension  of 
tlie  circumstances  about  us.  We  moved  on  like  men 
in  a  dream.  Our  footmarks  seen  aOierward  showed 
that  we  had  steered  a  bee-line  for  tlie  brig.  It  must 
have  been  by  a  sort  of  instinct,  for  it  left  no  impress 
on  the  memory.  Bonsall  was  sent  staggering  ahead, 
and  reached  the  brig,  God  knows  how,  for  ho  had 
fallen  repeatedly  at  the  track-lines ;  but  he  delivered 
with  punctilious  accuracy  the  messages  I  had  sent  by 
him  to  Dr.  Hayes. 

Petersen  and  Whipple  came  out  to  meet  us  about 
two  miles  from  the  brig.  They  brought  my  dog-team, 
with  the  restoratives  I  had  sent  for  by  Bonsall.  I  do 
not  remember  their  coming.  Dr.  Hayes  entered  with 
judicious  energy  upon  the  treatment  our  condition 
called  for,  administering  morphine  freely,  after  the 
usual  frictions  next.  Mr.  Ohlsen  suffered  some  time 
from  strabismus  and  blindness :  two  others  underwent 
amputation  of  part  of  the  foot,  without  unpleasant  con- 
sequences J  and  tw^o  died  in  spite  of  all  our  efforts. 


I 


II 


k'U' 


.  n^ 


I  ■•  / 


!    ( 


^Sitfil| 


^H 


-fi 
llffP 


TtTT" 


'A 

i 


i:  i 


642 


ESQUIMAUX    VISITORS. 


"  We  were  wateliing  in  the  morninj^^  at  Baker's  deatli- 
bed,  when  one  of  our  deck-watch,  avIio  had  been  cut- 
ting ice  for  the  nielter,  came  hurrying  down  into  tlio 
cabin  with  tlie  report,  "  People  halloing  ashore !  "  1 
went  up,  followed  by  as  many  as  could  mount  the 
gaugwny ;  and  there  they  were,  on  all  sides  of  our 
rocky  harl)or,  dotting  the  snow-shores  and  emerging 
from  the  blackness  of  the  cliffs, — wild  and  uncouth  but 
evidently  human  beings. 

"  As  we  gathered  on  the  deck,  they  rose  upon  the 
more  elevated  fragments  of  the  land-ice,  standing 
singly  and  conspicuously  like  the  figures  in  a  tableau 
of  the  opera,  and  distributing  themselves  around  al- 
most in  a  half-circle.  They  were  vocilerating  as  if  to 
attract  our  attention,  or  perhaps  only  to  give  vent  to 
their  surprise  ;  but  I  could  make  nothing  out  of  their 
cries,  except  "  Hoali,  ha  ha !  "  and  "  Ka,  katlh !  ha, 
kaah ! "  repeated  over  and  over  again. 

"  There  Avas  light  enough  for  me  to  see  that  they 
brandished  no  weapons,  and  were  only  tossing  their 
heads  and  arms  about  in  violent  gesticulations,  A 
more  unexcitcd  inspection  showed  us,  too,  that  their 
numbers  were  not  as  great  nor  their  size  as  Patago- 
nian  as  some  of  us  had  been  disposed  to  fancy  at  fii-st. 
In  a  word,  1  was  satisfied  that  they  were  natives  of  the 
country  ;  and  calling  Petersen  from  his  bunk  to  be  my 
interpreter,  I  proceeded,  unarmed  and  waving  my 
open  hands,  toward  a  stout  figure  who  made  him- 
self conspicuous  and  seemed  to  have  a  greater  number 
near  him  than  the  rest.  He  evidently  understood  the 
movement,  for  he  at  once,  like  a  brave  fellow,  leaped 
down  upon  the  floe  and  advanced  to  meet  me  fully 
half-way. 

"  He  was  nearly  a  head  taller  than  myself,  extremely 


r's  (leatli- 
it'on  c\it- 
into  tlio 
[)ve!"  1 
)unt  the 
<  of  our 
micrging 
outh  l)iit 

upon  the 
standing 
a  tableau 
.round  al- 
cr  as  if  to 
e  vent  to 
t  of  their 
:ririh !    ha, 

:hat  they 
ing  their 
Itions.     A 
lat  their 
is  Patago- 
■y  at  first, 
fes  of  the 
to  be  my 
vinii;   mv 
lade   hini- 
number 
stood  the 
kv,  leaped 
Ime  fully 


[^.1 


';    * 


•ft 


:trcmely 


Ill 


jk! 


)« 


(Olt 


l/^!" 


t' 


^^ 


1^ 


«■ 


i' 


r 


LOADINtt    TIIK    fAllll. 


VIKST    MKKTIMU    WITU    KbVIUlMAUX. 


INTERVIEW    WITH    METER. 


545 


powt'iful  and  ucU-huilt,  witli  swnrtliy  complexion  and 
piercing  black  ojos.  His  dross  was  a  hooded  capote 
or  juinpi'ror  niixod  white  and  blue  Ibx-jH'lts,  arranged 
with  something  of  fancy,  nnd  l)()otod  tiousersof  white 
bear-skin,  which  at  the  end  of  the  foot  were  made  to 
teriiiiniito  with  the  claws  of  the  animal. 

*' Althoiigi»  tiiiswas  the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen  a 
wliito  man,  he  went  with  me  fearlessly ;  his  compan- 
ions staying  Ixdiind  on  the  ice.  Ilickcy  took  them 
out  wiiat  he  esteemed  our  greatest  delicacnes, — slices 
of  good  wheat  bread,  and  corned  ])ork,  with  exorbitant 
lumps  of  white  sugar  ;  but  they  refused  to  touch  them. 
They  had  evidently  no  apprehension  of  o\)v\\  violence 
from  us.  I  found  afterward  that  several  among  them 
were  singly  a  match  for  the  white  iK'ar  and  the  walru.s, 
and  that  they  thought  us  a  very  pale-faced  crew. 

''  Being  satisfied  with  my  interview  in  the  cabin,  I 
sent  out  word  that  the  rest  might  be  admitted  to  the 
ship  ;  and,  although  they,  of  course,  could  not  know 
how  their  chief  had  been  dealt  with,  some  nine  or  ten 
of  them  followed  with  boisterous  readiness  upon  the 
bidding.  Others  in  the  mean  time,  as  if  disposed  to 
give  us  their  company  for  the  full  time  of  a  visit, 
brought  up  from  behind  the  land-ice  as  many  as  fifty- 
six  line  dogs,  with  their  sledges,  and  secured  them 
within  two  hundred  feet  of  the  brig,  driving  their 
lances  into  the  ice,  and  picketing  the  dogs  to  them  by 
the  seal-skin  traces.  The  sledges  were  made  up  of 
small  fragments  of  porous  bone,  admirably  knit  to- 
gether by  thongs  of  hide  ;  the  runners,  which  glistened 
like  burnished  steel,  were  of  highly-polished  ivory, 
obtained  from  the  tusks  of  the  wjdrus.  The  only  arms 
they  carried  were  knives,  conce;iled  in  their  boots ; 
but  their  lances,  which  were  lashed  to  the  sledges, 
wore  quite  a  formidable  weapon. 

oo 


mmf'^^ 


,i  •' 


f  i. 

It 


546 


D  E  A  T  II     OF     B  A  K  E  R . 


"In  llie  morning  they  wore  anxious  to  go ;  but  I  luul 
given  orders  to  detain  them  for  a  parting  interview 
with  myself.  It  resulted  in  a  treaty,  brief  in  its  terms 
that  it  might  certainly  be  remembered,  and  mutually 
beneficial,  that  it  might  possibly  be  kept.  I  tried  to 
m.ako  them  understand  what  a  powerful  Prospero  they 
had  had  for  a  host,  and  how  beneficent  ho  would  prove 
himself  so  long  as  they  did  his  bidding.  And  as  an 
earnest  of  my  favor,  I  bought  all  the  walrus-meat  they 
had  to  spare,  and  four  of  their  dogs,  enriching  them 
in  return  with  ne<'  lies  and  beads  and  a  treasure  of  old 
cask -staves. 

"  In  the  fullness  of  their  gratitude,  they  pledged 
themselves  emphatically  to  return  in  a  few  days  with 
more  meat,  and  to  allow  me  to  use  their  dogs  and  sledges 
for  my  excursions  to  the  north.  I  then  gave  them 
leave  to  go.  Thoy  yoked  in  their  dogs  in  less  than 
two  minutes,  got  on  their  sledges,  cracked  their  two- 
fathom-and-a-half-long  seal-skin  whij),  and  were  off 
down  the  ice  to  the  southwest  at  a  rate  of  seven  knots 
an  hour. 

"May  28,  Sunday.  Our  day  of  rest  and  devotion. 
It  was  a  fortnight  ago  last  Friday  since  our  poor  friend 
Pierre  died.  For  nearly  two  months  he  had  been  strug- 
gling against  the  enemy  with  a  resolute  will  and 
mirthful  spirit,  that  seemed  sure  of  victory.  But  ho 
sunk  in  spite  of  them. 

"The  last  offices  were  rendered  to  him  w^ith  the 
same  careful  ceremonial  that  wo  ol)served  at  Baker's 
funeral.  There  were  fewer  to  walk  in  the  procession ; 
but  the  body  was  encased  in  a  decent  pine  coflin  and 
carried  to  Observatory  Island,  where  it  was  placed 
side-by-side  with  that  of  his  messmate.  Neither  could 
yet  be  buried  ;  but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 


RETURN     OF     DR.    HAYES. 


547 


the  frost  has  cnibahncd  their  remains.  Dr.  Hayes  read 
the  chapter  from  Job  which  has  consigned  so  many  to 
tlieir  hist  resting-phieo,  and  a  little  snow  was  sprinkled 
upon  the  face  of  the  coffin.  Pierre  was  a  volunteer  not 
only  of  our  general  expedition,  but  of  the  party  with 
which  he  met  his  death-blow.  He  was  a  gallant  niiui, 
a  univers.al  favorite  on  board,  always  singing  some 
Beranger  balhid  or  other,  and  so  elastic  in  his  merri- 
ment that  even  in  his  last  sickness  he  cheered  all  that 
were  about  him." 

"May  30.  It  is  a  year  ago  to-day  since  we  left 
New  York.  I  am  not  as  sanguine  as  I  was  then :  time 
and  exj)erience  have  chastened  me.  There  is  everv 
thing  about  me  to  check  enthusiasm  and  moderate 
hope.  1  am  here  in  forced  inaction,  a  broken-down 
man,  oppressed  l)y  cares,  with  many  dangers  beibi'e 
me,  and  still  under  the  shadow  of  a  hard  wearing  win- 
ter, which  has  crushed  two  of  my  best  associates. 

'"My  mind  never  realizes  the  complete  catastrophe, 
the  destruction  of  all  Franklin's  crews.  I  picture  them 
to  myself  broken  into  detachments,  and  my  mind  fixes 
itself  on  one  little  group  of  some  thirty,  wlio  have 
found  the  open  spot  of  some  tidal  eddy,  and  luider  the 
teachings  of  some  Esquimaux  or  perhaps  one  of  tlu'ir 
own  Greenland  whalers,  have  set  bravely  to  work,  and 
trapped  the  fox,  speared  the  bear,  and  killed  the  seal 
and  walrus  and  whale.  I  think  of  them  ever  with 
hope.     I  sicken  not  to  bo  able  to  reach  them. 

"June  1,  Thursday.  At  ten  o'clock  this  morning 
the  wail  of  tlie  dogs  outside  announced  tlie  I'eturu  of 
Dr.  Hayes  and  A^'illiam  C!o(lfre3\  Both  of  them  were 
completely  snow-blind, and  the  doctor  had  to  l)e  led  to 
my  bedside  to  make  his  report. 

"June   27.     McGary   and  Bonsall  arc  back   with 


I  .(.  >-.  /' 


:4**.vl;i^!:|jpj;|! 


'M 


i' 


■    f^^Pr- 


Ir-'ilf 


548 


ADVENTURE    WITH     A    BEAR. 


h  mi 


I 


111 


Hickej  and  Riley.  They  arrived  last  evening:  all 
well,  except  that  the  snow  lias  effected  their  eye-sight 
hadly,  owing  to  the  scorbutic  condition  of  their  sys- 
tems, Mr.  McGary  is  entirely  blind,  and  I  fear  will 
be  found  slow  to  cure.  They  have  done  admirably 
They  bring  back  a  continued  series  of  observations, 
perfectly  well  kept  up,  for  the  further  authentication 
of  our  survey. 

'-  This  is  evidently  the  season  when  the  bears  are 
in  most  abundance.  Their  tracks  were  everywhere, 
both  on  shore  and  upon  the  Hoes.  One  of  them  had 
the  auflacity  to  a1  tempt  intruding  itself  upon  the 
party  daring  one  of  their  halts  upon  the  ice;  and  Bon- 
sall  tells  a  good  story  of  the  manner  in  which  they  re- 
ceived and  returned  his  salutation,  but  without  in  any 
degree  (disturbing  the  unwelcome  visitor ;  specially 
unwelcome  at  that  time  and  place,  for  all  the  guns 
had  1  een  left  on  the  sledge,  a  little  distance  off,  and 
there  Avas  not  so  much  as  a  walking-pole  inside.  There 
was  of  course  something  of  natural  confusion  in  the 
little  council  of  war.  The  first  impulse  was  to  make 
a  rush  for  the  arms;  but  this  was  soon  decided  to  be 
very  dcnibtfully  practicable,  if  at  all,  for  the  bear, 
having  satisfied  himself  with  his  observations  of  the 
exterior,  now  presented  himsoif  at  the  tent-opening. 
Sundry  volleys  of  lucifer  matches  and  some  im- 
promptu torches  of  newspapers  were  fired  without 
alarming  him,  and,  after  a  little  while,  he  planted  him- 
self iit  the  doorway  and  began  making  his  supper 
upon  the  carcass  of  a  seal  which  had  been  shot  the 
day  before. 

"  Tom  Ilickey  was  the  first  to  bethink  him  of  the 
military  device  of  a  sortie  from  the  postern,  and,  cut- 
ting a  hole  with  his  knife,  crawled  out  at  the  rear  of 


TKNT   O.N    TlIK    KLOK.S. 


TIIK    BEAR    IN    CAMl'. 


aATBERIMO   MOaS. 


I. I     ■■'  {■  *M  ■ 


■  •!  ') 


-•n 


\i-   ■  .  Ik    ■' 


ADVENTURES    OF    MORTON    AND    HANS 


551 


the  tent.  Here  he  extricated  a  boat-hook,  that  formed 
one  of  the  supporters  of  the  ridge-pole,  and  made  it 
the  instrument  of  a  right  valorous  attack.  A  blow 
well  administered  on  the  nose  caused  the  animal  to 
retreat  for  the  moment  a  few  paces,  beyond  the  sledge, 
and  Tom,  calculating  his  distance  nicely,  sprang  for- 
ward, seized  a  rifle,  and  fell  back  in  safety  upon  his 
comrades.  In  a  few  seconds  more,  Mr.  Bonsall  had 
sent  a  ball  through  and  through  the  body  of  his  en- 
emy. 

"  It  was  with  no  slight  joy  that  on  the  evening  of  the 
10th  of  July,  while  walking  with  Mr.  Bonsall,  a  dis- 
tant sound  of  dogs  caught  my  ear.  These  faithful 
servants  generally  bayed  their  full-mouthed  welcome 
from  afar  off,  but  they  always  dashed  in  with  a  wild 
speed  which  made  their  outcry  a  direct  precursor  of 
their  arrival.  Not  so  these  well-worn  travelers.  Hans 
and  Morton  staggered  beside  the  limping  dogs,  and 
poor  Jenny  was  riding  as  a  passenger  upon  the  sledge. 

"  They  left  the  brig  on  the  3d  of  June,  and  reached 
the  Great  Glacier  on  the  15th,  after  only  twelve  days 
of  travel.  They  showed  great  judgment  in  passing 
the  bays ;  and,  although  impeded  by  the  heavy  snows, 
would  have  been  able  to  remain  much  longer  in  the 
field,  but  for  the  destruction  of  our  provision-depots 
by  the  bears. 

"  As  Morton,  leaving  Hans  and  his  dogs,  passed  be- 
tween Sir  John  Franklin  Island  and  the  narrow  ])each- 
line,  the  coast  became  more  wall-like,  and  dark  masses 
of  porphyritic  rock  abutted  in.o  the  sea.  With  grow- 
ing difficulty,  he  managed  to  climb  from  rock  to  rock, 
in  hopes  of  doubling  the  promontory  and  sighting  the 
coast  beyond,  but  the  water  kept  encroaching  more 
f.nd  more  on  his  track. 


ix  >'■' 


ti 


I' I. 


552 


THE    OPEN    SEA, 


'•  It  must  have  been  an  imposing  sight,  as  he  stood  at 
this  termination  of  his  journey,  looking  out  upon  the 
great  waste  of  waters  befcjre  him.  Not  a  "  speck  of 
ice,"  to  use  his  own  words,  could  be  seen.  There,  from  a 
height  of  five  hundred  and  eiglity  feet,  which  com- 
manded a  horizon  of  almost  forty  miles,  his  ears  were 
gladdened  with  the  novel  music  of  dashing  waves; 
and  a  surf,  breaking  in  among  the  rocks  at  his  feet, 
stayed  his  further  progress. 

"  Beyond  this  cape  all  is  surmise.  The  high  ridges 
to  the  northwest  dwindled  off  into  low  blue  knobs, 
ri  ai.Ii  'jlended  finally  with  the  air.  Morton  called 
the  ....  >vhich  baflled  his  labors,  after  his  command- 
er; out  I  hove  given  it  the  more  enduring  name  of 
Caju-'  Constitution. 

"All  One  si eu;.; ^-parties  were  now  once  more  aboard 
ship,  and  the  soason  of  Arctic  travel  has  ended.  For 
more  than  ten  months  we  had  been  imprisoned  in  ice, 
and  throughout  all  that  perioil,  except  during  the  en- 
forced holiday  of  the  midwinter  darkness  or  Avliile 
repairing  from  actual  disaster,  had  been  constantly  in 
the  field.  The  summer  was  wearing  on,  but  still  the 
ice  did  not  break  up  as  it  should.  As  far  as  we  could 
see,  it  remained  inflexibly  solid  between  us  and  the 
North  Water  of  Baffin's  Bay. 

"  The  alternative  of  abandoning  the  vessel  at  this 
early  stage  of  our  absence,  even  wei-e  it  possible, 
would,  I  feel,  be  dishonoring ;  but,  revolving  the  ques- 
tion as  one  of  practicability  alone,  I  would  not  under- 
take it.  In  the  first  place  how  are  we  to  ^et  along 
with  our  sick  and  newly-amputated  men  ?  It  is  a 
dreary  distance  at  the  best  to  Upernavik  of  Beechy 
Island,  our  only  seats  of  refuge,  and  a  ^jrecarious  trav- 
erse if  we  were  all  of  us  fit  for  moving ;  but  we  are 


la^ 


MORTON   A.NU   HANS   KNTERINU    THE    CllANNKI,. 


f)^  ! 


II  i' 


.it!;  .it«^    r 


!^ 


.  .#! 


MORTOK  AND  HANS  LKAVINO  KENNEDY  CHANXKL. 


ATTEMPT  TO  REACH  BEECHY  ISLAND.   555 

hardly  one-half  in  efficiency  of  what  we  count  in 
number.  Besides,  how  can  I  desert  the  brig  while 
there  is  still  a  chance  of  saving  her  ?  There  is  no  use 
of  noting  j9ros  and  cons;  my  mind  is  made  up;  I  will 
not  do  it." 

About  the  middle  of  July,  Dr.  Kane,  with  five  vol- 
unteers, started  southward  hoping  to  be  able  to  reach 
Beechy  Island,  and  to  communicate  with  some  one  of 
the  English  ships  searching  for  Franklin.  The  trip  was 
made  in  a  boat  which  was  dragged  to  the  water,  and 
was  exciting  and  dangerous.  On  the  Slst  of  July, 
when  within  ten  miles  of  Cape  Parry,  they  were  stop- 
ped by  a  solid  mass  of  ice  which  lay  directly  across 
their  path.  On  climbing  an  iceberg  they  found  that 
all  within  a  radius  of  thirty  miles  was  an  impenetrable 
sea  of  ice.  Further  attempts  to  proceed  being  useless, 
they  returned  to  the  brig,  halting  at  Northumberland 
and  Littleton  Islands,  where  they  feasted  on  auks  and 
scurvy  grass. 

Littleton  Island  will  ever  be  a  locality  of  great  in- 
terest, as  the  last  harbor  of  the  Polaris  was  on  the 
the  main  land  opposite,  and  the  place  where  her  crew, 
after  a  long  residence,  started  southward  in  June,  1873. 

"August  18.  Reduced  our  allowance  of  wood  to 
six  pounds  a  meal.  This,  among  eighteeii  mouths,  is 
one-third  of  a  pound  of  fuel  for  each.  It  allows  us 
coffee  twice  a  day,  and  soup  once.  Our  fare  besides 
this  is  cold  pork  boiled  in  quantity  and  eaten  as  re- 
quired. This  sort  of  thing  works  badly;  but  I  must 
save  coal  for  other  emergencies.  I  see  'darkness 
ahead.' 

"August  20,  Sunday.  Rest  for  all  hands.  The 
daily  prayer  is  no  longer  '  Lord  accept  our  grutitude 
and  bless  our  undertaking/   but  'Lord    accept    our 


'■*  'SI    : 


I 


ii 


I 


Hf      II 


<|i. 


556 


SIG-NAL     CAIUN. 


gratitude  and  restore  us  to  our  homes.'  The  ice 
shows  no  change:  after  a  boat  and  foot  journey 
around  the  entire  southeastern  curve  of  the  bay,  no 
signs ! 

"  I  determined  to  place  upon  Observatory  Ishmd  a 
large  signal-beacon  or  cairn,  and  to  bury  under  it  doc- 
uments which,  in  case  of  disaster  to  our  party,  would 
convey  to  any  who  might  seek  us  intelligence 
of  our  proceedings  and  our  fate.  The  memory  of  the 
first  winter  quarters  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  and  the 
painful  feelings  with  which,  while  standing  by  the 
graves  of  his  dead,  I  had  four  years  before  sought  for 
written  signs  pointing  to  the  fate  of  the  living,  made 
me  careful  to  avoid  a  similar  neglect. 

"A  conspicuous  spot  was  selected  upon  a  cliff  looking 
out  upon  the  icy  desert,  and  on  a  broad  face  of  rock 
the  words 

ADYAI!TCE, 

A.  D.  1853-54, 

were  painted  in  letters  which  could  be  read  at  a  dis- 
tance. A  pyramid  of  heavy  stones,  perched  above  it, 
was  marked  with  the  Christian  symbol  of  the  cross. 
It  was  not  without  a  holier  sentiment  than  that  of 
mere  utility  that  I  placed  under  this  the  coffins  of  our 
two  poor  comrades.  It  was  our  beacon  and  their 
gravestone. 

"  Near  this  a  hole  was  worked  into  the  rock,  and  a 
paper,  enclosed  in  glass,  sealed  in  with  melted  lead. 

"  It  read  as  follows  : — 

"  Brig  Advance,  August  14,  1854. 

"E.  K.  Kane,  with  his  comrades,  Kenry  Brooks, 
John  Wall  Wilson,  James  McGary,  I.  I.  Hayes^  Chris- 


THE    RECORD. 


557 


tian  Ohlacn,  Amos  Bonsall,  Henry  Goodfollow,  August 
Sontag,  William  Morton,  J.  Carl  Peterson,  George 
Stephenson,  Jefferson  Temple  Baker,  George  Riley, 
Peter  Schubert,  George  Whipple,  John  Blake,  Thomas 
Hickey,  William  Godfrey,  and  Hans  Christian,  mem- 
bers of  the  Second  Grinnell  Expedition  in  search  of 
Sir  John  Franklin  and  the  missing  crews  of  the  Erebus 
and  Terror,  were  forced  into  this  harbor  while  endeav- 
oring to  bore  the  ice  to  the  north  and  east. 

"  They  were  frozen  in  on  the  8th  of  September, 
1853,  and  liberated 

"  During  this  period  the  labors  of  the  expedition 
have  delineated  nine  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of  coast- 
line, without  developing  any  traces  of  the  missing  ships 
or  the  slightest  information  bearing  upon  their  fate. 
The  amount  of  travel  to  effect  this  exploration  ex- 
ceeded two  thousand  miles,  all  of  which  was  upon  foot 
or  by  the  aid  of  dogs. 

"Greenland  has  been  traced  to  its  northern  ftice, 
whence  it  is  connected  with  the  farther  north  of  the 
opposite  coast  by  a  great  glacier.  This  coast  has  been 
charted  as  high  as  lat.  82°  27'.  Smith's  Sound  ex- 
pands into  a  capacious  bay:  it  has  been  surveyed 
throughout  its  entire  extent.  From  its  northern  and 
eastern  corner,  in  lat.  80°  10',  long.  60°,  a  channel  has 
been  discovered  and  followed  until  flirther  progress 
was  checked  by  water  free  from  ice.  This  chaimel 
trended  nearly  due  north,  and  expanded  into  an  ajjpa- 
rently  open  sea,  which  abounded  with  birds  and  bears 
and  marine  life. 

"  The  death  of  the  dogs  during  the  winter  threw 
the  travel  essential  to  the  above  discoveries  upon  the 
personal  efforts  of  the  officers  and  men.  The  sum- 
mer finds  them  much  broken  in  health  and  strength. 


i 


f1 


4t 


111 


558 


THE     COUNCIL. 


"  JcfTorson  Temple  Baker,  and  Peter  Schubert  dlofl 
from  injuries  received  from  cold  while  in  manly  per- 
formance of  their  duty.  Their  remains  are  depositc^d 
under  a  cairn  at  the  north  point  of  Obwervatory 
Island. 

"  The  site  of  the  observatory  is  seventy-six  English 
feet  from  the  northernmost  salient  point  of  this  island, 
in  a  direction  S.  14°  E.  Its  position  is  in  lat.  78°  3?  10", 
long.  70°  40'.  The  mean  tidal  level  is  twenty-nine 
feet  below  the  highest  point  ii[)on  this  island.  Both 
of  these  sites  are  further  designated  by  copper  bolts 
sealed  with  melted  lead  into  holes  upon  the  rocks. 

"On  the  12th  of  August,  1854,  the  brig  warped  from 
her  position,  and,  after  passing  inside  the  group  of 
islands,  fastened  to  the  outer  floe  about  a  mile  to  the 
northwest,  where  she  is  now  awaiting  further  changes 
in  the  ice. 

"Signed, 

«  E.  K.  Kane, 

"  Commanding  Expedition. 
"Fox-Trap  Toint,  August  14,  1854." 


"  August  24.  At  noon  to-day  I  had  all  hands  called, 
and  explained  to  them  frankly  the  considerations 
which  have  determined  me  to  remain  where  we  are. 
I  endeavored  to  show  them  that  an  escape  to  open 
water  could  not  succeed,  and  that  the  effort  must  be 
exceedingly  hazardous :  I  alluded  to  our  duties  to  the 
shij) :  in  a  word, I  advised  them  strenuously  to  forego  the 
project.  I  then  told  them  that  I  should  freely  give  my 
permission  to  such  as  were  desirous  of  making  the  at- 
tempt, but  that  I  should  require  them  to  place  them- 
selves under  the  command  of  officers  selected  by  them 
before   setting  out,  and  to  renounce  in  writing  all 


PORTION    OF    CUKW    8TAUT    SOUTH.     559 


rt  (Hod 
ily  por- 
[)osit(>(l 
rvatory 

Knglish 
1  islaiul, 
37' 10", 
ity-nine 
,  Both 
er  bolts 
>cks. 
eel  from 
•oup  of 
e  to  the 
changes 


Jition. 

s  called, 
erations 
■we  are. 
to  open 
must  be 
js  to  the 
rego  the 
give  my 
the  at- 
20  them- 
by  them 
iting  all 


chiims  upon  my.solf  and  the  rest  who  were  resolved 
to  stay  by  the  vessel.  Having  done  this,  I  directed 
tiic  roll  to  be  called,  and  each  man  to  answer  for  him- 
self. 

"  In  the  result,  eight  out  of  the  seventeen  survivors 
of  my  party  resolved  to  stand  by  the  brig.  It  is  just 
that  I  should  record  their  names.  They  were  Henry 
Brook.s,  James  McGary,  J.  W.  Wilson,  Henry  Goodfcl- 
low,  William  Morton,  Christian  Ohlsen,  Thomas  Hick- 
ey,  Hans  Christian. 

"  I  divided  to  the  others  their  portion  of  our  re- 
sources justly  and  even  liberally;  and  they  left  us  on 
Monday,  the  28th,  with  every  appliance  our  narrow 
circumstances  could  furnish  to  si)ee(l  and  guard  them. 
One  of  them,  George  Riley,  returned  a  few  days  af- 
terward ;  but  weary  months  went  by  befori^  wo  saw 
the  rest  again.  They  carried  with  them  a  a\  ritten  as- 
surance of  a  brother's  welcome  should  they  be  driven 
back ;  and  this  assurance  was  redeemed  when  hard 
trials  had  prepared  them  to  share  again  our  fortunes. 

"  The  party  moved  off  with  the  elastic  step  of  men 
confident  in  their  purpose,  and  were  out  of  sight  in  a 
few  hours.  As  we  lost  them  among  the  hummocks,  the 
stern  realities  of  our  condition  pressed  themselves  upon 
us  {inew.  The  reduced  numbers  of  our  party,  the  help- 
lessness of  many,  the  waning  elTiciency  of  all,  the  im- 
pending winter  with  its  cold,  dark  night,  our  penury 
of  resources,  the  dreary  sense  of  increased  isolation, — 
these  made  the  staple  of  our  thoughts.  For  a  time, 
Sir  John  Franklin  and  his  party,  our  daily  topic 
through  so  many  months,  gave  place  to  the  question 
of  our  own  fortunes, — how  we  were  to  escape,  how  to 
live.  The  summer  had  gone,  the  harvest  was  ended, 
and We  did  not  care  to  finish  the  sentence. 


B>"!  Al 


li 


5Q0 


THE    ARREST. 


"  When  the  three  visitors  came  to  us  near  the  end  of 
August,  I  established  them  in  a  tent  below  deck,  with 
a  copper  lamp,  a  cooking-basin,  and  a  liberal  supply  of 
slush  for  fuel.  I  left  them  under  guard  when  I  went 
to  bed  at  two  in  the  morning,  contentedly  eating  and 
cooking  and  eating  again  without  the  promise  of  an  in- 
termission. An  American  or  an  European  would  have 
slept  after  such  a  debauch  till  the  recognized  hour  for 
hock  and  seltzer-water.  But  our  guests  managed  to  elude 
the  officer  of  the  deck  and  escape  unsearched.  They 
repaid  my  liberality  by  stealing  not  only  the  lamp, 
boiler,  and  cooking-pot  they  had  used  for  the  feast,  but 
Nannook  also,  my  best  dog.  If  the  rest  of  my  team 
had  not  been  worn  down  by  over-travel,  no  doubt  they 
would  have  taken  them  all.  Besides  this,  we  discov- 
ered tlie  next  morning  that  they  had  found  the  buffa- 
lo-robes and  Indian-rubber  cloth  which  McGary  had 
left  a  few  days  before  on  the  ice-foot  near  Six-mile 
Ravine,  and  had  added  the  whole  to  the  spoils  of  their 
visit. 

"  I  was  puzzled  how  to  inflict  punishment,  but  saw 
that  I  must  act  viy-orouslv,  even  at  a  venture.  I  des- 
patched  my  two  best  walkers,  Morton  and  Riley,  as 
soon  as  I  heard  of  the  theft  of  the  stores,  with  orders 
to  make  all  speed  to  Anoatok,  and  overtake  the  thieves, 
who,  I  thought,  would  probably  halt  there  to  rest. 
They  found  young  Myouk  making  himself  quite  com- 
fortable in  the  hut,  in  company  with  Sievu,  the  wife  of 
Metek,  and  Aningna,  the  wife  of  Marsinga^  and  my 
buffalo-robes  already  tailored  into  kapetahs  on  their 
backs. 

"  A  continued  search  of  the  premises  recovered  the 
cooking-utensils,  and  a  number  of  otlier  things  of 
greater  or  less  value  that  we  had  not  missed  from  the 


end  of 
k,  with 
pply  of 
1  went 
ng  and 
)f  an  in- 
,ld  have 
lOur  for 
toehide 
They 
le  \am\), 
iast,  but 
ny  team 
ibt  they 
J  discov- 
be  huffa- 
iary  had 
Six-mile 

of  their 

)ut  saw 
I  des- 

cviley,  as 

ti  orders 
thieves, 
to  rest. 

lite  corn- 
wife  of 
ind   my 

Ion  their 

M-ed  the 
imgs  of 
trom  the 


KKNNEDT  CHANNFJ.. 


VIEW    FROM   CAPE   CONSTITUTION. 


'   ff 


;!*•! 


l:i'"-'f: 


i;';!;^ 


iftilf"«iH 


+  It. 


i¥ 


♦^       t    V 


r'!" 


THE    PUNISHMENT. 


563 


brig.  With  the  prompt  ceremonial  which  outraged 
law  delights  in  among  the  officials  of  the  police  every- 
where, the  women  were  stripped  and  tied  j  and  then, 
laden  with  their  stolen  goods  and  as  much  walrus-beef 
besides  from  their  own  stores  as  would  pay  for  their 
board,  they  were  marched  on  the  instant  back  to  the 
brig. 

"  The  thirty  miles  was  a  hard  walk  for  them ;  but 
they  did  not  complain,  nor  did  their  constabulary 
guardians,  who  had  marched  thirty  miles  already  to 
apprehend  them.  It  was  hardly  twenty-four  hours 
since  they  left  the  brig  with  their  booty  before  they 
were  prisoners  in  the  hold,  with  a  dreadful  white  man 
for  keeper,  who  never  addressed  to  them  a  word  that 
had  not  all  the  terrors  of  an  unintelligible  reproof, 
and  whose  scowl,  I  flatter  myself,  exhibited  a  well-ar- 
ranged variety  of  menacing  and  demoniacal  expres- 
sions. 

"  They  had  not  even  the  companionship  of  Myouk. 
Him  I  had  despatched  to  Metek, '  head-man  of  Etah, 
and  others,"  with  the  message  of  a  melo-dramatic  ty- 
rant, to  negotiate  fov  their  ransom.  For  five  long 
days  the  women  had  to  sigh  and  sing  and  cry  in  soli- 
tary converse, — their  appetite  continuing  excellent,  it 
should  be  remarked,  though  mourning  the  while  a 
rightfully-impending  doom.  At  List  the  great  Metek 
arrived.  He  brought  with  him  Ootuniah,  another  man 
of  elevated  social  position,  and  quite  a  sledge-load  of 
knives,  tin  cups,  and  other  stolen  goods,  refuse  of 
wood  and  scraps  of  iron,  the  sinful  prizes  of  many 
cove  tings. 

"  I  may  pass  over  our  peace  conferences  and  the  in- 
direct advantages  which  1  of  course  derived  from  hav- 
ing the  opposing  powers  represented  in  my  own  cap- 


lii*  M-l  V   , 


1 1 


564 


THE    TREATY. 


ital.  But  the  splendors  of  our  Arctic  centre  of  civil- 
ization, with  its  wonders  of  art  and  science, — our  "  fire- 
death  "  ordnance  included, — could  not  all  of  them  im- 
press Metek  so  much  as  the  intimations  he  had  re- 
ceived of  our  superior  physical  endowments. 

"The  protocol  was  arranged  without  difficulty, 
though  not  without  the  accustomed  number  of  ad- 
journments for  festivity  and  repose.  It  abounded  in 
protestations  of  power,  fearlessness,  and  good-will  by 
each  of  the  contracting  parties,  which  meant  as  much 
as  such  protestations  usually  do  on  both  sides  the 
Arctic  circle. 

"  On  the  part  of  the  Inuit,  the  Esquimaux,  they 
were  after  this  fashion : — 

"'We  promise  that  we  will  not  steal.  We  promise 
we  will  bring  you  fresh  meat.  We  promise  we  will 
sell  or  lend  you  dogs.  We  will  keep  you  company 
whenever  you  want  us,  and  show  you  where  to  find 
the  game." 

"On  the  part  of  the  Kablunah,  the  white  men,  the 
stipulation  was  this  ample  equivalent : — 

" '  We  promise  that  we  will  not  visit  you  with  death 
or  sorcery,  nor  do  you  any  hurt  or  mischief  whatsoev- 
er. We  will  shoot  for  you  on  our  hunts.  You  shall 
be  made  welcome  aboard  ship.  We  will  give  you 
presents  of  needles,  pins,  two  kinds  of  knife,  a  hoop, 
three  bits  of  hard  wood,  some  fat,  an  awl,  and  some 
sewing-thread ;  and  we  will  trade  with  you  of  these 
and  every  thing  else  you  want  for  walrus  and  seal- 
meat  of  the  first  quality." 

"  And  the  closing  formula  might  have  read,  if  the 
Esquimaux  political  system  had  included  reading 
among  its  qualifications  for  diplomacy,  in  this  time- 
consecrated  and,  in  civilized  regions,  veracious  assur- 
ance : — 


OUR    WILD    ALLIES. 


665 


" '  We,  the  high  contracting  parties  pledge  ourselves 
now  and  forever  brothers  and  friends.' 

"  This  treaty — which,  though  I  have  spoken  of  it 
jocosely,  was  really  an  affair  of  much  interest  to  us — 
was  ratified  with  Hans  and  Morton  as  my  accredited 
representatives,  by  a  full  assembly  of  the  people  at 
Euih.  All  our  future  intercourse  was  conducted  by  it. 
It  was  not  solemnized  by  any  oath ;  but  it  was  never 
broken.  We  went  to  and  fro  between  the  villages 
and  the  brig,  paid  our  visits  of  courtesy  and  necessity 
on  both  sides,  met  each  other  in  hunting  parties  on 
the  floe  and  the  ice-foot,  organized  a  general  community 
of  interests,  and  really,  I  believe,  established  some 
personal  attachments  deserving  of  the  name.  As  long 
as  we  remained  prisoners  of  the  ice,  we  were  indebted 
to  them  for  invaluable  counsel  in  relation  to  our  hunt- 
ing expeditions  ;  and  in  the  joint  hunt  we  shared  alike, 
according  to  their  own  laws.  Our  dogs  were  in  one 
sense  common  property ;  and  often  have  they  robbed 
themselves  to  offer  supplies  of  food  to  our  starving  teams. 
They  gave  us  supplies  of  meat  at  critical  periods :  we 
were  able  to  do  as  much  for  them.  They  learned  to 
look  on  us  only  as  benefactors ;  and,  I  know,  mourned 
our  departure  bitterly. 

"  September  22.  I  am  off  for  the  walrus-grounds 
with  our  wild  allies.  It  will  be  my  sixth  trip.  I  know 
the  country  and  its  landmarks  now  as  well  as  any  of 
them,  and  can  name  every  rock  and  chasm  and  wa- 
tercourse, in  night  or  fog,  just  as  I  could  the  familiar 
spots  about  the  dear  Old  Mills  where  I  passed  my 
childhood. . 

"  September  29.  I  returned  last  night  from  Anoa- 
tok,  after  a  journey  of  much  risk  an  exposure,  that  I 
should  have  avoided  but  for  the  insuperable  obstinacy 
of  our  savajre  friends. 


>i .  'i 


i-*l 


tV^F'.k    H 


¥H 


li 


566      HUNTING    EXCURSION    WITU    MYOUK. 

"  I  set  out  for  the  walrus  grounds  at  noon,  by  the 
track  of  the  '  Wind  Point '  of  Anoatok,  known  to  us  as 
Esquimaux  Point.  I  took  the  light  sledge,  and,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  five  of  my  available  team,  harnessed  in 
two  animals  belonging  to  the  Esquimaux.  Ootuniah, 
Myouk,  and  the  dark  stranger  accompanied  me,  with 
Morton  and  Hans. 

"At  about  10  r.  M.,  we  had  lost  the  land,  and,  while 
driving  the  dogs  rapidly,  all  of  us  running  alongside  of 
them,  we  took  a  wrong  direction,  and  traveled  out 
toward  the  floating  ice  of  the  Sound.  We  had  to 
keep  moving,  for  we  could  not  camp  in  the  gale,  that 
blew  around  us  so  fiercely  that  we  could  scarcely  hold 
down  the  sledge.  But  we  moved  with  caution,  feeling 
our  way  with  the  tent-poles,  which  I  distributed 
among  the  party  for  the  purpose.  A  murmur  had 
reached  my  ear  for  some  time  in  the  cadences  of  the 
storm,  steadier  and  deeper,  I  thought,  than  the  tone 
of  the  wind :  on  a  sudden  it  struck  me  that  1  heard 
the  noise  of  waves,  and  that  we  must  be  coming  close 
on  the  open  water.  I  had  hardly  time  for  the  hurried 
order,  '  Turn  the  dogs,'  before  a  wreath  of  wet  frost- 
smoke  swept  over  us,  and  the  sea  showed  itself,  with  a 
great  fringe  of  foam,  hardly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead. 
We  could  now  guess  our  position  and  its  dangers.  The 
ice  was  breaking  up  before  the  storm,  and  it  was  not 
certain  that  even  a  direct  retreat  in  the  face  of  the 
gale  would  extricate  us. 

"  It  was  pitchy  dark.  I  persuaded  Ootuniah.  the 
eldest  of  the  Esquimaux,  to  have  a  tent-pole  lashed 
horizontally  across  his  shoulders.  I  gave  him  the  end 
of  a  line,  which  I  had  fastened  at  the  other  end  round 
my  waist.  The  rest  of  the  party  followed  him.  At 
last  one  after  another  succeeded  in  clambering  after 
me  upon  the  ice-fo:)t,  driving  the  dogs  before  tliem. 


,  by  the 
to  us  as 
d,  in  ad- 
essed  in 
otuniali, 
ne,  with 

id,  while 
igside  of 
ilcd   out 
J  had  to 
jalc,  that 
iely  hold 
n,  feeling 
stributed 
mur  had 
cs  of  the 
the  tone 
t 1  hoard 
injji;  close 
hurried 
'ct  frost- 
jir,  with  a 
lie  ahead, 
jrs.   The 
was  not 
le  of  the 


kiah.  the 

lashed 

the  end 

id  round 

lim.     At 

in;  after 

c  them. 


ESQUIMAUX    KUT. 


WILU    UOU    TKAM. 


i-  1  [  k 


ml 


I 


m 


i*  I 


li/i 


m 


mm 


r 

J 

I 
II 

D 

e 


AN    ESQUIMAUX    HOMESTEAD. 


569 


"  Providence  had  been  our  guide.  The  shore  on 
which  we  landed  was  Anoatok,  not  four  hundred  yards 
fit)in  the  familiar  Esquimaux  homestead.  With  a 
shout  of  joy,  each  man  in  his  own  dialect,  we  hastened 
to  the  '  wind-loved  spot;'  and  in  less  than  an  hour,  our 
lamps  burning  cheerfully,  we  were  discussing  a  famous 
stew  of  walrus-steaks,  none  the  less  relished  for  an 
unbroken  ice-walk  of  forty-eight  miles  and  twenty 
haltless  hours.  > 

"  Time  had  done  its  work  on  the  igloe  of  Arioatok, 
as  among  the  palatial  structures  of  more  southern 
deserts.  The  entire  front  of  the  dome  had  fallen  in, 
closhig  up  the  tossut,  and  forcing  us  to  enter  at  the 
solitary  window  above  it  The  breach  was  large 
enough  to  admit  a  sledge  team;  but  our  Arctic 
conu'ades  showed  no  anxiety  to  close  it  up.  Their 
clothes  saturated  with  the  freezing  water  of  the  floos, 
these  iron  men  gathered  themselves  round  the  blub- 
ber-fire and  steamed  away  in  apparent  comfort.  The 
only  departure  from  their  practised  routine,  which  the 
bleak  night  and  open  roof  seemed  to  suggest  to  them, 
was  that  they  did  not  strip  themselves  naked  before 
coming  into  the  hut,  and  hang  up  their  vestments  in 
the  air  to  dry,  like  a  votive  offering  to  the  god  of  the 
sea. 

"  The  chant  and  the  feed  and  the  ceremony  all  com- 
pleted, Hans,  Morton,  and  myself  crawled  fect-forcinost 
into  our  buffalo-bag,  and  Ootuniah,  Awahtolc,  and  My- 
ouk  flung  themselves  outside  the  skin  between  us. 
The  last  I  heard  of  them  or  anything  else  was  the  re- 
newed chi  iriis  of  *  Nalegak !  nalegak !  nalegak-soak ! ' 
mingling  itself  sleepily  in  my  dreams  with  school-boy 
memories  of  Aristophanes  and  The  Frogs.  I  slept 
eleven  hours. 


6Y0 


A    BEAR-nonT. 


"  October  7.  Lively  sensation,  as  tliej  say  in  the 
land  of  olives,  and  champagne.  *  Nannook,  nannooic!' 
— 'A  bear,  a  bear! ' — Hans  and  Morton  in  a  breath ! 

"To  the  scandal  of  our  domestic  regulations,  the 
guns  were  all  impracticable.  While  the  men  avimo  load- 
ing and  cjipping  anew,  I  seized  my  pillow-companion 
six-shooter,  and  ran  on  deck.  A  medium-sized  bear, 
with  a  four  months'  cub,  was  in  active  warfare  with 
our  dogs.  They  were  hanging  on  her  skirts,  and  she 
with  wonderful  alertness  was  picking  out  one  victim 
after  another,  snatching  him  by  the  nape  of  the  neck, 
and  flinging  him  many  feet  or  rather  yards,  by  a 
barely  perceptible  movement  of  her  head. 

"  Tudla,  our  master  dog,  was  already  hors  de  combat : 
he  had  been  tossed  twice.  Jenny,  just  as  I  emerged 
from  the  hatch,  was  making  an  extraordinary  somer- 
set of  some  eight  fathoms,  and  alighted  senseless. 
Old  Whitey,  stanch,  but  not  bear-wise,  had  been  the 
first  in  the  battle  :  he  was  yelping  in  helplessness  on 
the  snow. 

"  It  seemed  as  if  the  controversy  was  adjourned  and 
Nannook  evidently  thought  so;  for  she  turned  ofl'  to 
our  beef-barrels,  and  began  in  the  most  unconcerned 
manner  to  turn  them  over  and  nose  out  their  fatness. 

"October  11.  There  is  no  need  of  looking  at  the 
thermometer  and  comparing  registers,  to  show  how 
far  this  season  has  advanced  beyond  its  fellow  of  last 
year.  The  ice-foot  is  more  easily  read,  and  quite  as 
certain. 

"  The  under  part  of  it  is  covered  now  with  long  sta- 
lactitic  columns  of  ice,  unlike  the  ordinary  icicle  in 
shape,  for  they  have  the  characteristic  bulge  of  the 
carbonate-of-lime  stalactite.  They  look  like  the  fan- 
tastic columns  hanging  from  the  roof  of  a  frozen  tem- 


-> , 


AWAIITOK  A     HUT. 


671 


pie,  the  dark  recess  behind  them  giving  nil  the  effect 
of  a  grotto.  There  in  one  that  brings  back  to  me 
saddened  memories  of  Elephaiita  and  the  merry 
friends  that  bore  me  company  under  its  rock-ohiselled 
portico.  The  fig-trees  and  the  palms,  and  the  gallant 
major's  curries  and  his  old  India  ale,  are  wanting  in 
the  picture.  Sometimes  again  it  is  a  canopy  fringed 
with  gems  in  the  moonlight.  Nothing  can  be  purer  or 
more  beautiful. 

"Morton  reached  the  huts  beyond  Anoatok  upon 
the  fourth  day  after  leaving  tlie  brig.  There  were 
four  huts ;  but  two  of  them  arc  in  ruins.  They  were 
all  of  them  the  homes  of  families  only  four  winters 
ago.  Of  the  two  which  are  still  habitable,  Myouk, 
his  father,  mother,  brother,  and  sister  occupied  one  • 
and  Awahtok  and  Ootuniah,  with  their  wives  and  three 
young  ones  the  other. 

''It  was  evident  from  the  moagreness  of  the  larder 
that  the  hunters  of  the  family  had  work  to  do ;  and  from 
some  signs  which  did  not  escape  the  sagacity  of  Morton 
it  was  plain  that  Myouk  and  his  father  had  determined 
to  seek  their  next  dinner  upon  the  floes.  They  Avere 
going  upon  a  walrus-hunt;  and  Morton,  true  to  the 
mission  with  which  I  had  charged  him,  invited  himself 
and  Hans  to  be  of  the  party. 

"I  have  not  yet  described  one  of  these  exciting  inci- 
dents of  Esquimaux  life.  Morton  was  full  of  the  one 
he  witnessed;  and  his  account  of  it  when  he  came 
back  was  so  graphic  that  I  should  be  glad  to  escape 
from  the  egotism  of  personal  narrative  by  giving  it  in 
bis  own  language." 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


DR.  KANE'S  SECOND  EXPEDITION. 

(continued.) 

My  narrative  has  reached  a  period  at  which  every 
thing  like  progress  was  suspended.  The  increasing 
cold  and  brightening  stars,  the  labors  and  anxieties 
and  sickness  that  pressed  upon  us, — these  almost  en- 
gross the  pages  of  my  journal.  Now  and  then  I  find 
some  marvel  of  Petersen's  about  the  fox's  dexterity  as 
a  hunter ;  and  Hans  tells  me  of  domestic  life  in  South 
Greenland,  or  of  a  seal-hunt  and  a  wrecked  kayuck ; 
or  perhaps  McGary  repeats  his  thrice-told  tale  o!'  hu- 
mor ;  but  the  night  has  closed  down  upon  us,  and  we 
are  hibernating  through  it. 

"  Yet  some  of  these  were  topics  of  interest.  The 
intense  beauty  of  the  Arctic  firmament  can  hardly  be 
imagined.  It  looked  close  above  our  heads,  with  its 
stars  magnified  in  glory  and  the  very  planets  twink- 
ling so  much  as  to  bailie  the  observations  of  our  astron- 
omer. I  am  afraid  to  speak  of  some  of  these  night- 
scenes.  I  have  trodden  the  deck  and  the  floes,  when 
the  life  of  earth  seemed  suspended,  its  movements,  its 
sounds,  its  coloring,  its  companionships  j  and  as  I 
looked  on  the  radiant  hemisphere,  circling  abovo  iv 
as  if  rendering  worship  to  the  unseen  Center 
I  have  ejaculated  in  humility  of  spirit,  'Lord  lat  ib 
man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?'    And  thcii  1  have 

572 


AIlCTIt;    MOON  LI  (MIT. 


•JUK    lOK-FOOT   CANOPV. 


|1      M 


THE    CABIN    BY     NIGHT. 


575 


thought  of  the  kindly  world  we  had  left,  with  its  re- 
volving sunshine  and  shadow,  and  the  other  stars  that 
gladden  it  in  their  changes,  and  the  hearts  that  warmed 
to  us  there ;  till  I  lost  myself  in  memories  of  those 
who  arc  not ; — and  they  bone  me  back  to  the  stars 
again. 

"■  December  1.  I  am  writing  at  midnight.  I  have 
the  watch  from  eight  to  two.  It  is  day  in  the  moon- 
light on  deck,  the  thermometer  getting  up  again  to 
36°  below  zero.  As  I  came  down  to  the  cabin — for 
so  we  still  call  this  little  moss-lined  igloe  of  ours — 
every  one  is  asleep,  snoring,  gritting  his  teeth,  or  talk- 
ing in  his  dreams.  This  is  pathognomonic ;  it  tells  of 
Arctic  winter  and  its  companion,  scurvy. 

"  I  was  asleep  in  the  forenoon  of  the  7th,  after  the 
fatigue  of  an  extra  nightr watch,  when  I  was  called  to 
the  deck  by  the  report  of '  Esquimaux  sledges.'  They 
camfi  on  rapidly,  five  sledges,  with  teams  of  six  dogs 
each,  most  of  the  drivers  strangers  to  us ;  and  in  a 
few  minutes  were  at  the  brig.  Their  errand  was  of 
charity :  they  were  bringing  back  to  us  Bonsall  and 
Petersen,  two  of  the  party  that  left  us  on  the  28th  of 
August. 

"  The  party  had  many  adventures  and  much  suffer- 
ing to  tell  of  They  had  verified  by  painful  and  per- 
ilous experience  all  I  had  anticipated  for  them.  But 
the  most  stirring  of  their  announcements  was  the  con- 
dition they  had  left  iheir  associates  in,  two  hundred 
miles  off",  divided  in  their  counsels,  their  energies  bro- 
ken, and  their  provisions  nearly  gone.  I  reserve  for 
another  page  the  history  of  their  wanderings.  My 
first  thought  was  of  the  means  of  rescuing  and  reliev- 
ing them. 

"  I  resolved  to  despatch  the  Esquimaux  escort  at  once 


576        RETURN     OF    WITHDRAWING    PARTY. 


;i  111! 


with  such  supplies  as  our  miserably-imperfect  stores 
allowed,  they  giving  their  pledge  to  carry  them  with 
all  speed,  and,  what  I  felt  to  be  much  less  certain,  with 
all  honesty.  We  cleaned  and  boiled  and  packed  a 
hundred  pounds  of  po^k,  and  sewed  up  smaller  pack- 
ages of  meat-biscuit,  bread-dust,  and  tea;  and  des- 
patched the  whole,  some  three  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds,  by  the  returning  convoy.  Of  our  own  party 
— those  who  had  remained  with  the  brig — McGary, 
Hans,  and  myself  were  the  only  ones  able  to  move, 
and  of  these  McGary  \,-as  now  fairly  on  the  sick  list. 
We  could  not  be  absent  a  single  day  without  jeopard- 
ing the  lives  of  the  rest. 

"  December  12th,  Tuesday.  Brooks  awoke  me  at 
three  this  morning  with  the  cry  of '  Esquimaux  again !' 
I  dressed  hastily,  and,  groping  my  way  over  the  pile 
of  boxes  that  leads  up  from  the  hold  into  the  darlvness 
above,  made  out  a  group  of  human  figures,  masked 
by  the  hooded  jumpers  of  the  natives.  They  stopped 
at  the  gangway,  and,  as  I  was  about  to  challenge,  one 
of  them  sprang  forward  and  grasped  my  hand.  It 
was  Doctor  Hayes.  A  few  words,  dictated  by  sufier- 
ing,  certainly  not  by  any  anxiety  as  to  his  reception, 
and  at  his  bidding  the  whole  party  came  upon  deck. 
Poor  fellows !  I  could  only  grasp  their  hands  and  give 
them  a  brother's  welcome. 

"  The  thermometer  was  at  minus  50° ;  they  were 
covered  with  rime  and  snow,  and  were  fainting  with 
hunger.  It  was  necessary  to  use  caution  in  taking 
them  below ;  for,  after  an  exposure  of  such  fearful  in- 
tensity and  duration  as  they  had  gone  through,  the 
warmth  of  the  cabin  would  have  prostrated  them  com- 
pletely. They  had  journeyed  three  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  J  and  their  last  run  from  the  bay  near  Etah, 


C  II 11 1  S  T  M  A  S     F  E  S  T  i  V  1  T  I  E  S . 


577 


some  seventy  miles  in  a  right  line,  was  through  the 
hummoclcs  at  this  appalhng  temperature. 

"  One  by  one  they  all  came  in  and  were  housed. 
Poor  fellows !  as  they  threw  open  their  Esquimaux  gar- 
ments by  the  stove,  how  they  relished  the  scanty 
luxuries  which  we  had  to  offer  them !  The  coffee  and 
the  meat-biscuit  soup,  and  the  molasses  and  the  wheat 
bread,  even  the  salt  pork  which  our  scurvy  forbade 
the  rest  of  us  to  touch, — how  they  relished  it  all !  For 
more  than  two  months  they  had  lived  on  frozen  seal 
and  walrus-meat. 

'•  I  cannot  crowd  the  details  of  their  journey  into  my 
diary.  I  have  noted  some  of  them  from  Dr.  Hayes's 
words ;  but  he  has  promised  me  a  written  report,  and 
1  wait  for  it.  It  was  providential  that  they  did  not 
stop  for  Petersen's  return  or  lely  on  the  engagements 
which  his  Esquimaux  attendants  had  made  to  them  as 
well  as  to  us.  The  sledges  that  carried  our  relief 
of  provisions  passed  through  the  Etah  settlement 
on  some  furtive  project,  we  know  not  what. 

'"  December  25,  Christmas.  All  together  again,  the 
returned  and  the  steadAist,  we  sat  down  to  our  Christ- 
mas dinner.  There  was  more  love  than  with  the 
stalled  ox  of  former  times ;  but  of  herbs  none.  We 
forgot  our  discomforts  in  the  blessings  that  adhered 
to  us  still ;  and  when  we  thought  of  the  long  road 
ahead  of  us,  we  thought  of  it  hopefully.  I  pledged 
myself  to  give  them  their  next  Christmas  with  their 
homes  ;  and  each  of  us  drank  his '  absent  friends '  with 
ferocious  zeal  over  one-eighteenth  part  of  a  bottle  of 
sillery — the  last  of  its  hamper,  and,  alas !  no  longer 
mousseux. 

"  December  26.  The  moon  is  nearly  above  the 
cliffs;  the  thermometer  — 57°  to  — 45°,  the  mean  of 


m\  1 1 


m  'S' 


^*^i 


t  '  i "     i'  I 


m  h 


I  i  fi 


;  .  isifH'ti  ft   ') 


,^fl 


mm 


0/8      ATTEMPT    TO    REACH    TUE    ESQUIMAUX. 

the  past  four  days.  In  the  midst  of  this  cheering  con- 
junction, I  have  ahead  of  me  a  journey  of  a  hundred 
miles,  to  say  nothing  of  the  return.  Worse  than  this, 
I  have  no  landmarks  to  guide  me,  and  must  be  my 
own  pioneer.  It  is  a  merciful  change  of  conditions 
that  I  am  the  strongest  now  of  the  whole  party,  as 
last  winter  I  was  the  weakest.  The  duty  of  collect- 
ing food  is  on  me. 

"  December  28.  The  moon  to-morrow  will  be  for 
twelve  hours  above  the  horizon,  and  so  nearly  circum- 
polar  afterward  as  to  justify  me  in  the  attempt  to 
reach  the  Esquimaux  hunting-ground  about  Cape  Al 
exander.  Every  thing  is  ready ;  and,  God  willing,  I 
start  to-morrow,  and  pass  the  four-hours'  dog-halt  in 
the  untenanted  hut  of  Anoatok.  Then  we  have,  as 
it  may  be,  a  fifteen,  eighteen,  or  twenty  hours'  march, 
run  and  drive,  before  we  reach  a  shelter  among  the 
heathen  of  the  Bay. 

"  January  22.  Busy  preparing  for  a  trip  to  the 
lower  Esquimaux  settlement.  The  barometer  remains 
at  the  extraordinary  height  of  30*85, — a  bad  prelude 
to  a  journey! 

"January  29.  The  dogs  carried  us  to  the  lower 
curve  of  the  reach  before  breaking  down.  I  was  just 
beginning  to  hope  for  an  easy  voyage,  when  Toodla 
and  the  Big  Yellow  gave  way  nearly  together;  the 
latter  frightfully  contorted  by  convulsions.  There  was 
no  remedy  for  it:  the  moon  went  down,  and  the 
wretched  night  was  upon  us.  We  groped  along  the 
ice-foot,  and,  after  fourteen  hours'  painful  walking, 
reached  the  old  hui. 

"  A  dark  water-sky  extended  in  a  wedge  from  Lit- 
tleton to  a  point  north  of  the  cape.  Everywhere  else 
tlic  firmament  was  obscured  by  mist.     The  height  of 


ux. 

ing  con- 
hundred 
tian  this, 
5t  be  my 
editions 
party,  as 
f  collect- 
ill  be  for 
Y  circum- 
:tempt  to 
Cape  Al- 
willing,  I 
og-halt  in 
!  havo,  as 
rs'  march, 
raong  the 

•ip  to  the 
;r  remains 
i  prelude 

:lie  lower 
was  just 

jn  Toodla 

kher;  the 

?here  was 

and  the 

[along  the 
walking, 

from  Lit- 
rhere  else 
I  height  of 


TUK   BRIU  IN  IFER  WISTKU  CllAIJLE. 


S^t-^ 


APPROACHING    TOE  DESERTED  XIVT. 


THE  OPEN  WATER. 


3! 


1 


y^ihrh' 


hi  V 


fm 


iPlI ! 


rif  i  'IP' 

SI  if  1    ,  ^  J.     f         f  J 


^  \ 


ti  1 


''?•*'!* 


••i 


i.  v\ 

■I;  f 


Jill 


f'H:'! 


)i1;l 

m 


THE    nUT    IN    A    STORM. 


581 


the  barometer  continued  as  we  left  it  at  the  brig,  and 
our  own  sensations  of  warmth  convinced  us  that  we 
were  about  to  have  a  snow-storm. 

"  We  hardly  expected  to  meet  the  Esquimaux  here, 
and  were  not  disappointed.  Hans  set  to  work  at  once 
to  out  out  blocks  of  snow  to  close  up  the  entrance  to 
the  hut  I  carried  in  our  blubber-lamp,  food,  and  bed- 
ding, unharnessed  the  dogs,  and  took  them  into  the 
same  shelter.  We  were  barely  housed  before  the 
Sturm  broke  upon  us. 

"  Here,  completely  excluded  from  the  knowledge  of 
things  without,  we  spent  many  miserable  hours.  We 
could  keep  no  note  of  time,  and,  except  by  the  whir- 
ring of  the  drift  against  the  roof  of  our  kennel,  had 
no  information  of  the  state  of  the  weather.  We  slept, 
and  cooked  coffee,  and  drank  coffee,  and  slept,  and 
cooked  coffee,  and  drank  again ;  and  when  by  our  tired 
instincts  we  thought  twelve  hours  must  have  passed, 
we  treated  ourselves  to  a  meal, — that  is  to  say,  we  di- 
vided impartial  bites  out  of  the  raw  hind-leg  of  a  fox  to 
give  zest  to  our  biscuits  spread  with  frozen  tallow. 
We  then  turned  in  to  sleep  again,  no  longer  heedtul 
of  the  storm,  for  it  had  now  buried  us  deep  in  with 
the  snow. 

"  In  the  morning — that  is  to  say,  when  the  com- 
bined light  of  the  noonday  dawn  and  the  circum- 
polar  moon  permitted  oiu*  escape — ^I  found,  by  com- 
paring the  time  as  indicated  by  the  Great  Bear  with 
the  present  increased  altitude  of  the  moon,  that  we 
had  been  pent  up  nearly  two  days.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances we  made  directly  for  the  hummocks,  en 
route  for  the  bay.  But  here  was  a  disastrous  change. 
The  snow  had  accumulated  under  the  windward  sides 
of  the  inclined  tables  to  a  hight  so  excessive  that  we 


I  i 


t' 


tl  ! 


s 


» ; .  ^ 


582 


HANS     DISCOURAGED. 


buried  sledge,  dogs,  and  drivers,  in  the  effort  to  work 
through.  It  was  all  in  vain  ^hat  Hans  and  I  har- 
nessed ourselves  to,  or  lifted,  levered,  twisted,  and 
pulled.  Utterly  exhausted  and  sick,  I  was  obliged  to 
give  it  up.  The  darkness  closed  in  again,  and  with 
difficulty  we  regained  the  igloe. 

"  The  ensuing  night  brought  a  return  to  hard  freez- 
ing temperatures.  Our  luxurious  and  downy  coverlet 
was  a  stiff,  clotted  lump  of  ice.  In  spite  of  our  double 
lamp,  it  was  a  miserable  halt.  Our  provisions  grew 
short ;  the  snow  kept  on  falling,  and  we  had  still  forty- 
six  miles  between  us  and  the  Esquimaux. 

"I  determined  to  try  the  land-ice  by  Fog  Inlet; 
and  we  worked  four  hours  upon  this  without  a  breath- 
ing-spell,— utterly  in  vain.  My  poor  Esquimaux, 
Hans,  adventurous  and  buoyant  as  he  was,  began  to 
cry  like  a  child.  Sick,  worn  out,  strength  gone,  dogs 
fast  and  floundering,  I  am  not  ashamed  to  admit  that 
as  I  thought  of  the  sick  men  on  board,  my  own  equa- 
nimity also  was  at  fault. 

"  We  had  not  been  able  to  get  the  dogs  out,  when 
the  big  moon  appeared  above  the  water-smoke.  A 
familiar  hill, '  Old  Beacon  Knob,'  was  near.  I  scram- 
bled to  its  top  and  reconnoitered  the  coast  around  it 
The  ridge  about  Cape  Hatherton  seemed  to  jut  out  of 
a  perfect  chaos  of  broken  ice.  The  water — that  inex- 
plicable North  Water — was  there,  a  long  black  wedge, 
overhimg  by  crapy  wreaths  of  smoke,  running  to  the 
northward  and  eastward.  Better  than  all  yet, — could 
I  be  deceived? — a  trough  through  the  hummock- 
ridges,  and  level  plains  of  ice  stretching  to  the  south. 

"  Hans  heard  my  halloo,  and  came  up  to  confirm  me. 
But  for  our  disabled  dogs  and  the  waning  moon-fight, 
we  could  easily  have  made  our  journey.     It  was  with 


DAY     DREAMS. 


583 


a  rejoiced  heart  that  I  made  my  way  back  to  our  mis- 
erable little  cavern,  and  restufied  its  gaping  entrance 
with  the  snow.  We  had  no  blubber,  and  of  course  no 
fire;  but  I  knew  we  could  gain  the  brig, and  that, after 
refreshing  the  dogs  and  ourselves,  we  could  now  as- 
suredly reach  the  settlements. 

"February  12.  Hans  is  off  for  his  hunting-lodge, 
*  over  the  hills  and  far  away,*  beyond  Charlotte  Wood 
Fiord.  He  thinks  he  can  bring  back  a  deer,  and  the 
chances  are  worth  the  trial.  We  can  manage  the  small 
hunt,  Petersen  and  I,  till  he  comes  back  unless  we 
break  down  too.  But  I  do  not  like  these  symptoms 
of  mine,  and  Petersen  is  very  far  from  the  man  he 
was.  We  had  a  tramp  to-day,  both  of  us,  after  an  im- 
aginary deer, — a  hennisoak  that  has  been  supposed  for 
the  last  three  days  to  bo  hunting  the  neighborhood 
of  the  waterpools  of  the  brig  fiord,  and  have  come 
back  jaded  and  sad.  If  Hans  gives  way,  God  help 
us!" 

"  We  worked  on  board — those  of  us  who  could  work 
at  all — at  arranging  a  new  gangway  with  a  more  gen- 
tle slope,  to  let  some  of  the  party  crawl  up  from  their 
hospital  into  the  air.  We  were  six,  all  told,  out  of 
eighteen,  who  could  affect  to  hunt,  cook,  or  nurse. 

"  Meanwhile  we  tried  to  dream  of  commerce  with 
the  Esquimaux,  and  open  water  and  home.  For  myself, 
my  thoughts  have  occupation  enough  in  the  question 
of  our  closing  labors.  I  never  lost  my  hope.  I  looked 
to  the  coming  spring  as  full  of  responsibilities ;  but  1 
had  bodily  strength  and  moral  tone  enough  to  look 
through  them  to  the  end.  A  trust,  based  on  experi- 
ence as  well  as  on  promises,  buoyed  me  up  at  the 
worst  of  times.  Call  it  fatalism,  as  you  ignorantly 
may,  there  is  that  in  the  story  of  every  eventful  life 


\<i- 


l\ 


■  f    \\ 


['M 


584 


THE    COMING    DAWN. 


in      ;  ,,■  ■'-'  V: 


which  teaches  the  inefTiciency  of  human  means  and 
the  present  control  of  a  Supreme  Agency.  See  how 
often  relief  has  come  at  the  moment  of  extremity,  in 
forms  strangely  unsought,  almost  at  the  time  unwel- 
come ;  see,  still  more,  how  the  back  has  been  strength- 
ened to  its  increasing  burden,  and  the  heart  cheered 
by  some  unconscious  influence  of  an  unseen  Power, 

**  February  21.  To-day  the  crests  of  the  northeast 
headland  were  gilded  by  true  sunshine,  and  all  who 
were  able  assembled  on  deck  to  greet  it.  The  sun 
rose  above  the  horizon,  though  still  screened  from  our 
eyes  by  intervening  hills.  Although  the  powerful  re- 
fraction of  Polar  latitudes  heralds  his  direct  appear- 
ance by  brilliant  light,  this  is  as  far  removed  from 
the  glorious  tints  of  day  as  it  is  from  the  mere  twi- 
light. Nevertheless,  for  the  past  ten  days  we  have 
been  watching  the  growing  warmth  of  our  landscape, 
as  it  emerged  from  buried  shadow,  through  all  the 
stages  of  distinctness  of  an  India-ink  washing,  step  by 
step,  into  the  sharp,  bold  definition  of  our  desolate 
harbor  scene.  We  have  marked  every  dash  of  color 
which  the  great  Painter  in  his  benevolence  vouchsafed 
to  us ;  and  now  the  empurpled  blues,  clear,  unmistak- 
able, the  spreading  lake,  the  flickering  yellow :  peer- 
ing at  all  these,  poor  wretches !  everything  seemed 
superlative  luster  and  unsurpassable  glory.  We  had 
go  grovelled  in  darkness  that  we  oversaw  the  light. 

"  February  22.  Washington's  birthday :  all  our  col- 
ors flying  in  the  new  sunlight.  A  day  of  good  omen, 
even  to  the  sojourners  among  the  ice.  Hans  comes 
in  with  great  news.  He  has  had  a  shot  at  our  ben- 
nesoak,  a  long  shot ;  but  it  reached  him.  The  ani- 
m.al  m.ade  off  at  a  slow  run,  but  we  are  sure  of  him 


now. 


This  same  deer  has  been  hanging  round  the 


ans  and 
See  how 
iinity,  ill 
e  uiuvel- 
iitrcngth- 
cheered 
Power, 
northeast 
1  all  who 
The  sun 
from  our 
werful  re- 
ct  appcar- 
ived  from 
mere  twi- 
3  we  have 
landscape, 
:h  all  the 
g,  step  by 
desolate 
|h  of  color 
ouchsafed 
unmistak- 
ow:  pcer- 
jT  seemed 
We  had 
le  light, 
dl  our  col- 
lod  omen, 
Ims  comes 
our  ben- 
The  ani- 
ve  of  him 
round  the 


AUCTIC    SKA-(iri.l.S. 


EIDER    ISLAND    DUCKS. 


1* 


lil^l 


\f^m 


i'if 


i  ',^'r 


!  Ill  ill 


H      i 


,:  i 


Mil', 


t: 
si 
tl 
t\ 
II 
si. 


JOYFUL    NEW«. 


587 


hkv  at  the  fiord  through  nil  the  dim  returning  twi- 
light ;  and  so  many  stories  were  told  of  his  tippeur- 
ance  and  movements  that  he  had  almost  grown  into  a 
myth. 

"  23.  Hans  was  out  early  this  morning  on  the  trail 
of  the  wounded  deer.  Rhina,  the  least  barbarous  of 
our  sledge-dogs,  assisted  him.  He  was  back  by  noon 
with  the  joyful  news,  *  The  tukkuk  dead  only  two 
miles  up  big  fiord  ! '  The  cry  found  its  way  through 
the  hatch,  and  came  back  in  a  broken  huzza  from  the 
sick  men. 

"  February  25,  Sunday.  The  day  of  rest  for  those 
to  whom  rest  can  be ;  the  day  of  grateful  recognition 
for  nil !  John,  our  volunteer  cook  of  yesterday,  is 
down :  Morton,  who  could  crawl  out  of  bed  to  play 
baker  for  the  party,  and  stood  to  it  manfully  yesterdny, 
is  clown  too.  I  have  just  one  man  left  to  help  me  in 
caring  for  the  sick.  Hans  and  Petersen,  thank  God ! 
have  vitality  enough  loft  to  bear  the  toils  of  the  hunt. 
One  is  out  with  his  rifle,  the  other  searching  tho 
traps. 

"  To-day,  blessed  be  the  Great  Author  of  Light !  I 
have  once  more  looked  upon  the  sun.  I  wvh  stand- 
ing on  deck,  thinking  over  our  prospects,  wa  3n  a  fa- 
miliar berg,  which  had  long  been  hid  in  shadow, 
flashed  out  in  sun-birth.  I  knew  this  berg  right  well : 
it  stood  between  Charlotte  Wood  Fiord  and  Little 
Willie's  Monument.  One  year  and  one  day  ago  I 
traveled  toward  it  from  Fern  Rock  to  catch  the  sun- 
shine. Then  I  had  to  climb  the  hills  beyond,  to  get 
the  luxury  of  basking  in  its  brightness ;  but  now, 
though  the  sun  was  but  a  single  degree  above  the  true 
hori/.on,  it  was  so  much  elevated  by  refraction  that  the 
sheen  stretched  across  ihe  trough  of  the  fiord  like  a 


.:;  1 


"T>, 


iiit 


1 

MM 

^^^^^kH  ' 

hkhr^^^b 

^^^^■H 

flj  ^EUJI^^I^^BIi^^H 

^Bh 

BHI 

OBuHoH^^Htl 

fl^H^^^9|!<, 

IB^Bb^IB 

^H^HR-^' ' 

^H^^^K 

|^B^H^B8e|  ^i' 

,ti 

HBJI^lBffl 

^flH^ij  la  j  i|  1 

!■ 

IwM^Bwm"^' 

if  I^^Bh^Shi  i 

i 

m 

i^^^^^B^Biu 

1 

1 

m 

ffifl^^^H^B^i 

mi^i 


588 


A    3UN-W0RSUIPER. 


flaming  tongue.  I  could  not  or  would  not  resist  the  in- 
fluence. It  was  a  Sunday  act  of  worship  :  I  started  olT  at 
an  even  run,  and  caught  him  as  he  rolled  slowly  along 
the  horizon,  and  before  he  sank.  I  Avas  again  the  first 
of  my  |)arty  to  rejoice  and  meditate  in  sunshine.  It 
is  the  third  sun  I  have  seen  rise  for  a  moment  above 
the  lony;  nijj-ht  of  an  Arctic  winter. 

"  I  spare  myself  as  well  as  the  readers  of  this  hast- 
ily-compiled volume,  when  I  pass  summarily  over  the 
details  of  our  condition  at  this  time. 

"  I  look  back  at  it  with  recollections  like  those  of  a 
nightmare.  Yet  I  was  borne  up  wonderfully.  I  never 
doubted  for  an  instant  that  the  same  Providence  whicli 
had  guarded  us  through  the  long  darkness  of  winter 
was  still  watchhig  over  us  for  good,  and  that  it  was 
yet  in  reserve  for  us — for  some ;  I  dared  not  hope  for 
all — to  bear  back  the  tidings  of  our  rescue  to  a  Chris- 
tian land.     Bat  how  I  did  not  see. 

"  Two  attempts  have  been  made  by  my  orders,  in 
February,  to  ccinmunicate  with  the  Esquimaux  at 
their  huts.  Both  were  failures.  Peterson,  Hans,  and 
Godfrey  came  back  to  denounce  the  journey  as  im- 
practicable. I  know  hotter :  the  experience  of  my 
two  attempts  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness  satisfies  me 
that  at  this  period  of  the  year,  the  thing  can  be  done ; 
and,  if  I  mio:ht  venture  to  leave  our  sick-bav  for  a 
week,  I  would  prove  it.  But  there  are  dispositions 
and  influences  here  around  me,  scarcely  latent,  yet  re- 
pressed by  my  presence,  v/lucli  make  it  my  duty  at  all 
hazards  to  stay  where  I  am. 

"On  the  6th  of  March,  I  made  the  desperate  ven- 
ture of  sending  off  my  only  trusted  .'ind  eftective 
huntsman  on  a  sledge-journey  to  find  the  Esquimaux 
of  Etah.     He  took  with  him  our  two  surviving  dogs 


FAMINE    AT    ETAH. 


589 


in  our  lightest  sledge.  In  three  or  at  furthest  four 
days  more,  I  counted  on  his  return.  No  language  can 
express  the  anxiety  with  which  our  poor  suffering 
crew  awaited  it. 

''  March  10.  Hans  has  not  j^et  returned ;  so  that 
he  must  have  reached  the  settlement.  His  orders 
were,  if  no  meat  be  obtained  of  the  Esquimaux, 
to  borrow  their  dogs  and  try  for  bears  along  the  open 
water.  In  this  resource  I  have  confidence.  The  days 
are  magnificent. 

" .  .  .  .1  had  hardl}'^  Avritten  the  above,  when 
^  Bim,  him,  himT  sounded  from  the  deck,  mixed  with 
the  chorus  of  our  returning  dogs.  Tlie  next  minute 
Hans  and  myself  were  shaking  hands. 

"  He  had  much  to  tell  us ;  to  men  in  our  condition, 
Hans  was  as  a  man  from  cities.  We  of  the  wildornoss 
flocked  around  him  to  hear  the  news.  Sugar-teats  of 
raw  meat  are  passed  around.  SSpcak  loud,  Hans, 
i'lat  they  may  hear  in  the  bunks.' 

"  The  '  wind-loved '  Anoatok  he  had  reached  on  the 
first  night  after  leaving  the  brig:  no  Esquimaux  tli  're 
of  course ;  and  he  slept  not  warmly  at  a  temperature 
of  53°  below  zero.  On  the  evening  of  the  next  day 
ho  reached  Etah  Bay,  and  was  hailed  with  jojous  wel- 
come. But  a  new  phase  of  P]squimaux  life  had  come 
upon  its  indolent,  happy,  blubber-fed  deui/.ous.  In- 
stead of  plump,  greasy  children,  and  round-rhci  ked 
matrons  Hans  saw  around  liim  lean  figures  of  misery: 
the  men  looked  hard  and  bony,  and  the  children  shriv- 
elled in  the  hoods  which  cradled  them  at  their  moth- 
ers' backs.  Famine  had  been  among  them  ;  and  the 
skin  of  a  young  sea-unicorn,  lately  caught,  was  all 
that  remained  to  them  of  food.  Even  their  do>rs,  their 
main  reliance  for  the  Inuit  and  for  an  escape  to  some 


m 


imi^^m^^ 


u  ■ 


'■l! 


'-»»! 


.'r» 


r 


i'^l 


*^^4l' 


590 


A    WALRUS  HUNT. 


more  favored  camping-ground,  had  fallen  a  sacrifice 
to  hunger.  Only  four  remained  out  of  thirty  :  the 
rest  had  been  eaten. 

"  Hans  behaved  well,  and  carried  out  my  orders  in 
their  full  spirit.  He  proposed  to  aid  them  in  the  wal- 
rus-hunt. They  smiled  at  first  with  true  Indian  con- 
tempt :  but  when  they  saw  my  Marston  rifle,  which 
he  had  with  him,  they  changed  their  tone. 

"  I  have  not  time  to  detail  ITans's  adventurous  hunt, 
equally  important  to  the  scurvied  sick  of  Rensselaer 
and  the  starving  residents  of  Etah  Bay.  Metok 
speared  a  medium-sized  walrus,  and  Hans  gave  him  no 
less  than  five  Marston  balls  before  he  gave  up  his 
struggles.  The  beast  was  carried  back  in  triumph, 
and  all  hands  fed  as  \?  they  oould  never  know  famine 


agam. 


"  I  had  directed  Hans  to  endeavor  to  engage  Myouk, 
if  he  could,  to  assist  him  in  hunting.  A  most  timely 
thought:  for  the  morning's  work  made  them  re- 
ceive the  invitation  as  a  great  favor.  Hans  got  his 
share  of  the  meat,  and  returned  to  the  brig  acccinpa- 
nied  by  the  boy,  who  is  now  under  my  care  on  board. 
This  imp — for  he  is  full  of  the  devil— has  always  had 
a  relishing  fancy  for  tlie  kicks  and  cuffs  with  which  I 
recall  the  forks  and  teaspoons  when  they  get  astray; 
and,  to  tell  the  truth,  he  always  takes  care  to  earn 
them.  He  is  very  happy,  but  so  wasted  by  hunger 
that  the  work  of  fattening  him  will  be  a  costlv  one. 
Poor  little  fellow !  born  to  toil  and  necessity  and  peril ; 
stern  hunter  as  he  already  is,  the  lines  of  his  flice  arc 
still  soft  and  child-lil-cc. 

"March  25.  Refraction'  with  all  its  magic  is  back 
upon  u.'-;  the  '  Delectable  Mountains'  appear  again; 
and,  as  the  sun  has  now  worked  his  way  to  the  margin 


sacrifice 

by  :   the 

>rclers  in 
the  wal- 
lian  con- 
,e,  which 

)us  hmit, 
ensselaer 
Metok 
^e  him  no 
ve  up  his 
triumph, 
m  famine 

^e  Myouk, 
3st  timely 
them  re- 
1  P-ot  his 
acc(  inpa- 
on  board. 


Iwayi 


had 

hich  I 

let  astray ; 

le  to  cam 

hunger 

lostly  one. 

and  peril ; 

Is  f\\CL'  are 


he  IS 


hack 


|ar  agam ; 
le  margin 


'iiiM  \v  Ai.ms  iiiNiKi:. 


m  ■ 


jti'Ut; 


(>:k 


,H     1 


1   • 
1    1 

111'" 

<-   1 

\ 

» 

fm 


■  H  f- 


TUfi    DELECTABLE    MOUNTAINS. 


593 


of  the  northwestern  horizon,  we  can  see  the  Ijlaze 
stealing  out  from  the  bhick  portals  of  these  uplifted 
hills,  as  if  there  were  truly  beyond  it  a  celestial  gate. 

"I  do  not  know  what  preposterous  working  of  brain 
led  me  to  eomi^are  this  northwestern  ridge  to  Bun- 
yan's  Delectable  Mountains ;  but  there  was  a  time  only 
one  year  ago,  when  I  used  to  gaze  upon  them  with  an 
eye  of  real  longing.  Very  often,  when  they  rose  phan- 
tom-like into  the  sky,  I  would  plan  schemes  by  which 
to  reach  them,  work  over  mentally  my  hard  pilgrim- 
age across  the  ice,  and  my  escape  I'rom  Doubting 
Castle  to  this  scene  of  triumph  and  reward.  Once 
upon  your  coasts,  0  inaccessible  mountains,  1  would 
reach  the  Northern  Ocean  and  gather  together  the  rem- 
nants of  poor  Franklin's  company.  These  would  be  to 
me  the  orchards  and  vinej^ards  and  riuining  fountains. 
The  '  Lord  of  the  Hill  would  see  in  me  a  pilgrim.' 
'  Leaning  upon  our  staves,  as  is  common  with  weary  pil- 
grims when  they  stand  to  talk  with  any  by  the  way,'  we 
would  look  doAvn  upon  an  open  polar  sea,  refulgent 
with  northern  sunshine. 

"  April  2.  At  eleven  o'clock  this  morning  Mr.  Bon- 
sall  reported  a  man  about  a  mile  from  the  brig,  appa- 
rently lurking  on  the  ice-foot.  I  thought  it  was  Hans, 
and  we  both  went  forward  to  meet  him.  As  we  drew 
closer  we  discovered  our  sledge  and  dog-team  near 
whore  he  stood ;  but  the  man  turned  and  ran  to  the 
south. 

"I  pursued  him,  leaving  Mr.  Bonsall,  who  carried  a 
Sharps'  rifle,  behind  ;  and  the  man.  whom  I  now  recog- 
nized to  be  Godfrey,  seeing  me  advance  alone,  stopped 
and  met  me.  He  told  me  that  he  had  been  to  the 
south  as  far  as  Northumberland  Island;  that  Hans  was 
lying  sick  at  Etali,  in  conseque  ice  of  exposure  ;  that 

34 


■-'111  L' 


If  .f  !i ' 


i!  \r 


i 


.1 1 "  ■ 


si'llfi   P'^ 


■ '  ... '■ 


H 


[- :  i 


594 


THE    DESERTER    ESCAPES. 


he  himself  had  made  up  his  mind  to  go  back  and 
spend  the  rest  of  his  life  with  Kalutunah  and  the  Es- 
quimaux ;  and  that  neither  persuasion  nor  force  should 
divert  him  from  this  purpose. 

"Upon  my  presenting  a  pistol,  I  succeeded  in  forc- 
ing him  back  to  the  gangway  of  the  brig ;  but  he  re- 
fused to  go  further ;  and,  being  loth  to  injure  him,  I 
left  him  under  the  guardianship  of  Mr.  Boiisall's 
weapon  while  T  went  on  board  for  irons ;  for  both  Bon- 
eell  and  myself  were  barely  able  to  walk,  and  utterly 
incapable  of  controlling  him  by  manual  force  and  Peter- 
sen was  out  hunting :  the  rest,  thirteen  in  all,  are 
down  with  scurvy.  I  had  just  reached  the  deck  Avlion 
he  turned  to  run.  Mr.  Bonsall's  pistol  failed  at  the 
cap.  I  jumped  at  once  to  the  gun-stand  ;  but  my 
first  rifle,  affected  by  the  cold,  went  off  in  the  act  of 
cocking,  and  a  second,  aimed  in  haste  at  long  ])ut 
practicable  distance,  missed  the  fugitive.  He  made 
good  his  escape  before  we  could  lay  hold  of  another 
weapon. 

"I  am  now  more  r.nxious  than  ever  about  Hans. 
The  past  conduct  of  Godfrey  on  board,  and  his  mutin- 
ous desertion,  make  me  aware  that  ho  is  capable  of 
daring  wrong  as  well  as  deception.  One  thing  is  plain. 
This  man  at  large  and  his  comrade  still  on  board,  the 
safety  of  the  whole  company  exacts  the  sternest  ob- 
Scirvance  of  discipline.  I  have  eallod  all  hands,  and  an- 
nounced it  as  a  standing  order  of  the  ship,  and  one  to  be 
observed  inflexibly,  that  desertion,  or  the  attempt  to 
desert,  shall  be  met  at  once  by  the  sternest  penalty. 
I  have  no  alternative. 

April  r,  To-day  I  detained  Petersen  from  his  hnnt 
and  took  a  holiday  rest  myself, — that  is  to  say,  went 

to  bed  and sweated :  to-morrow  I  promise  as  much 

for  Bonsail. 


;k  and 
tho  Es- 
sliould 

in  forc- 
t  be  re- 
Q  liim,  I 
3onsall's 
)th  Bon- 
.  utterly 
11(1  Petcr- 
n  all,  are 
3ck  when 
d  at  tlie 
;  but  my 
tbc  act  of 
long  but 
He  made 
,f  another 

,ut  Hans. 
Ibis  mutin- 
;apable  of 
is  plain, 
[board,  tlie 
■rnest  ob- 
[is,  and  an- 
onetobe 

Ittempt  to 
It  penalty. 

his  hunt 
say,  went 
Ise  as 


much 


A    MORNING     IN     THE     CABIN. 


595 


"  While  here  in  bed  I  Avill  give  the  routine  of  a  day 
in  this  spring-tinio  of  year : 

"At  7:30  call  'all  hands;'  which  means  that  one  of 
the  well  trio  wakes  the  other  two.  This  order  is 
obeyed  slowly.  The  commander  confesses  for  himself 
that  the  breakfast  is  well-nigh  upon  the  table  before  he 
gets  his  sLilT  ankles  to  the  floor.  Lookiufj:  around,  he 
sees  the  usual  mosaic  of  sleepers  as  ingeniously  dove- 
tailed and  crowded  together  as  the  campers-out  in  a 
buffalo-bag.  He  winds  his  way  through  them,  and,  as 
he  does  so,  some  stereotyped  remarks  are  interchanged. 
'Thomas!' — our  ex-cook,  now  side  by  side  with  the 
first  officer  of  the  expedition, — 'Thomas,  turn  out!' 
'Eugh-ng,  sir.  'Turnout;  get  up.'  Ys-sir;' (sits  bolt 
upright,  and  rubs  his  eyes.)  'How  d'you  feel,  Mr. 
Ohlscn?'  ' Better,  sir.'  'How  vu  you  passed  the  night, 
Mr.  Brooks?'  'Middlin',  sir.'  And  after  a  diversified 
series  of  spavined  efforts,  the  mystical  number  forms 
its  triangle  at  the  table. 

"  It  still  stands  in  its  simple  dignity,  an  unclothed 
platform  of  boards,  with  a  pile  of  plates  in  the  center. 
Near  these  is  a  virtuoso  collection  of  cups  grouped  in  a 
tumulus  or  cairn,  commencing  philosophically  at  the 
base  with  heavy  stoneware,  and  ending  with  battered 
tin:  the  absolute  pinnacle  a  debased  dredging  box, 
which  makes  a  bad  goblet,  being  unpleasantly  sharp 
at  its  rim.  At  one  end  of  this  table,  partly  hid 
by  the  beer-barrel,  stands  Petersen  ;  at  the  side,  Bon- 
^all;  and  a  lime-juice  cask  opposite  makes  my  seat. 
We  are  all  standing:  a  momentary  hush  is  made 
among  the  sick;  and  the  daily  prayer  comes  with  one 
heart : — '  Accept  our  gratitude,  and  restore  us  to  our 
homes.' 

'•  The  act  of  devotion  over,  we  sit  down,  and  look- 
not  at  the  breakfast,  but  at  each  other. 


i  1 


MH  1 


V    :' 


w 


1^ 


I     1 


Pit  Wif  ■ 


i^ym^'^o'l  i 


I    i  4  •  •  i 


,  ■■'•  '■'  \ : 


,  ,  ....  ., 


59G 


8UUNG1IU  S    DAUGHTER. 


'•April   10,  Tuesday.     I  left  tlic 


brig 


at  10 


i  A.M., 


with  but  five  dogs  and  a  load  so  light  as  to  be  hardly 
felt.  My  dogs,  in  spite  of  low  feeding,  carried  me 
sixty-four  miles  in  eleven  hours. 

"  Faithful  Hans !  Dear  good  follower  and  friend ! 
I  was  out  on  the  floes  just  beyond  the  headlands  of 
our  old  '  Refuge  Harbor,'  when  I  made  out  a  black 
far  in  to  shoreward.  Refraction  will  deceive  a  novice 
on  the  ice;  but  we  have  learned  to  baffle  refraction. 
By  sighting  the  suspected  object  with  your  rifle  at  rest, 
you  soon  detect  motion.  It  was  a  living  animal — a 
man.  Shoreward  went  the  sledge ;  ofT  sprang  the 
dogs  ten  miles  an  hour,  their  driver  yelling  the  famil- 
iar provocative  to  speed,  '  Nannook !  nannook!'  'A 
bear.!  a  bear!'  at  the  top  of  his  lungs. 

"  There  was  no  room  for  mistaking  the  methodical 
steal-stalking  gait  of  Hans.  He  hardly  ^■aried  from  it 
as  we  came  near ;  but  in  about  fifteen  minutes  we 
were  shaking  hands  and  jabbering,  in  a  patois  of  Es- 
quimaux and  English,  our  mutual  news.  The  poor 
fellow  had  been  really  ill :  five  days  down  with  severe 
pains  of  limbs  have  left  him  still  a  '  little  veek ;' 
which  means  with  Hans  well  used  up.  I  stuck  him 
on  the  sledge  and  carried  him  to  Anoatok. 

''  In  this  sickness,  he  told  me,  he  was  waited  on 
most  carefully  at  the  settlement.  A  young  daughter 
of  Shunghu  elected  herself  his  nurse,  and  her  sympa- 
thies and  smiles  have,  I  fear,  made  an  impression  on 
his  heart  which  a  certain  damsel  near  Upernavik 
might  be  sorry  to  hear  of 

"  April  18.  I  am  just  off  a  two  hundred  miles'  jour- 
ney, bringing  back  my  deserter,  and,  what  is  perhaps 
quite  as  important,  a  sledge-load  of  choice  .valrus- 
cuts. 


^^-■:^ 


CAPTUKE    OF     OUIl     DESERTER. 


597 


"  I  found  from  Hans  that  his  negotiation  for  tho  doga 
had  failed,  and  that  unless  I  could  do  something  by 
individual  persuasion  I  must  give  up  my  scheme  of  a 
closing  exploration  to  the  north.  I  learned  too  that 
Godfrey  was  playing  the  great  man  at  Etali,  defying 
recapture ;  and  I  was  not  willing  to  trust  the  influence 
he  might  exert  on  my  relations  with  the  tribe.  1  de- 
termined that  he  should  return  to  the  brig. 

'•  I  began  by  stratagem.  I  placed  a  pair  of  foot- 
cuffs  on  Metek's  sledge,  and,  after  looking  carefully  to 
my  body-companion  six-shooter,  invited  myself  to  ride 
back  with  him  to  Ef.di.  His  nephew  remained  on 
board  in  charge  of  Hans,  and  I  disguised  myself  so 
well  in  my  nessak  that,  as  we  moved  off,  I  could 
easily  have  passed  for  the  boy  Paulik,  whose  place  I 
had  taken. 

"  As  our  eighty  miles  drew  to  an  end,  and  that 
which  we  call  the  settlement  came  close  in  view,  its 
population  streamed  out  to  welcome  their  chief's  re- 
turn. Among  the  first  and  most  prominent  was  the 
individual  whom  I  desired  to  meet,  waving  his  hand 
and  shouting  ^Tima!'  as  loudly  as  the  choicest  sav- 
age of  them  all.  An  instant  later,  and  I  was  at  hh 
ear,  wdth  a  short  phrase  of  salutation  and  its  appro- 
priate gesture.  He  yielded  unconditionally  at  once, 
and,  after  walking  and  running  by  turns  for  some 
eighty  miles  before  the  sledge,  with  a  short  respite  at 
Anoatok,  is  now  a  prisoner  on  board. 

"  My  remaining  errand  at  Etah  was  almost  as  suc- 
cessful. The  inmates  of  the  burrows  swarmed  around 
mc  as  I  arrived.  '^Nalegak!  nalegak!  tima!'  was 
yelled  in  chorus :  never  seemed  people  more  anxious 
to  propitiate,  or  more  pleased  with  an  unexpected 
visit     But  they  were  airily  clad,  and  it  blew  a  north- 


^^■' 


>    K    ■ 

;    ■    ■      '■   . 

'.I    '\ 


r 


m 


698 


A    VIHIT    TO    ETA  II. 


r 

ill 


wester ;  and  they  noon  crowded  back  into  their  ant- 
hill. Meantime  prepa rations  were  making  for  my  in- 
door reception, and  alter  a  little  while  Metek  and  my- 
self crawled  in  (m  handn  and  knees,  througii  an  extra- 
ordinary tossnt  thirty  paces  long.  Ah  1  emerged  on 
the  inside,  the  salute  of'  nalegak'  was  re])eated  Avitli 
an  increase  of  energy  that  was  anything  but  i)leas- 
ant. 

"There  were  guests  before  me, — six  sturdy  deni- 
zens of  the  neighboring  settlement.  They  had  been 
overtaken  by  the  storm  while  hunting,  and  were  al- 
ready crowded  upon  the  central  dais  of  honor.  They 
united  in  the  yell  of  welcome,  and  I  soon  found  my- 
self gasping  the  annnoniacal  steam  of  some  fourteen 
vigorous,  amply-fed,  luuvashed,  uncilothed  fellow-ludg- 
ers.  No  hyperbole  could  exjiggerate  that  which  in 
serious  earnest  I  give  as  the  truth.  The  platform  meas- 
ured but  seven  feet  in  breadth  by  six  in  depth,  the 
shape  being  semi  elliptical.  Upon  this,  including 
children  and  excluding  myself,  were  bestowed  thir- 
teen persons. 

"  The  kotluk  of  each  matron  was  glowing  with  a 
flame  sixteen  inches  long.  A  flipper-quarter  of  wal- 
rus, which  lay  frozen  on  the  fluor  of  the  netek,  Avas  cut 
into  steaks;  and  the  kolopsuts  began  to  smoke  with  a 
burden  of  ten  or  fifteen  pounds  apiece.  Metek,  with  a 
little  amateur  aid  from  some  of  the  sleepers,  emptied 
these  without  my  assistance.  I  had  the  most  cordial 
invitation  to  precede  them ;  but  I  had  seen  enough  of 
the  culinary  regime  to  render  it  impossible.  I  broke 
my  fast  on  a  handful  of  frozen  liver-nuts  that  Bill 
brought  me,  and,  bursting  out  into  a  profuse  perspira- 
tion, I  stripped  like  the  rest,  threw  my  well-tired  car- 
cass across  Mrs.  Eider-duck's  extremities,  put  her  lefb* 


TlIK    ATI.IIK    OK   HKAI.-IIOLK. 


WALKUS    Sl'OltTlNU. 


•I 


m 


f 


1;  I 


} 


■'*, 


m 


<    ,: 


mW-w 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


4 


1.0 


I.I 


'ri«  illlM 

'z  «-  IlllM 


1.8 


1.25      1.4 

i6_ 

^ 

6"     — 

► 

Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14SB0 

(716)  873-4503 


A    NOBLE    SAVAGE. 


601 


hand  baby  under  my  armpit,  pillowed  my  head  on  My- 
ouk's  somewhat  warm  stomach,  and  thus,  an  honored 
guest  and  in  the  place  of  honor,  fell  asleep. 

"  We  continued  toiling  on  with  our  complicated  pre- 
parations till  the  evening  of  the  24th,  when  Hans 
came  back  well  laden  with  walrus-meat  Three  of  the 
Esquimaux  accompanied  him,  each  with  his  sledge  and 
dog-team  fully  equipped  for  a  hunt  The  leader  of 
the  party,  Kalutunah,  was  a  noble  savage,  greatly  supe- 
rior in  every  thing  to  the  others  of  his  race.  He 
greeted  me  with  respectful  courtesy,  yei  as  one  who 
might  rightfully  expect  an  equal  measure  of  it  in  re- 
turn, and,  after  a  short  interchange  of  salutations,  seat- 
ed himself  in  the  post  of  honor  at  my  side. 

"  I  waited  of  course  till  the  company  had  fed  and 
slept,  for  anion 2  savages  especially  haste  is  indecorous, 
and  then,  after  distributing  a  few  presents,  opened  to 
them  my  project  of  a  northern  exploration.  Kalutu- 
nah received  his  knife  and  needles  with  a '  Kuyanaka,' 
'I  thank  you:'  the  first  thanks  I  have  heard  from  a 
native  of  this  upper  region.  He  called  me  his  friend, 
— '  Asakaoteet,' '  I  love  you  well,' — and  would  be  happy, 
he  said,  to  join  the  '  nalegak-soak '  in  a  hunt 

"  We  started  with  a  wild  yell  of  dogs  and  men 
in  chorus,  Kalutunah  and  myself  leading.  We  halted 
about  thirty  miles  north  of  the  brig,  after  edging 
along  the  coast  about  thirty  miles  to  the  eastward. 
Here  Shanghu  burrowed  into  a  snow-bank  and  slept, 
the  thermometer  standing  at  — 30°.  The  rest  of  us 
turned  in  to  lunch. 

"  The  journey  began  again  as  the  feast  closed,  and 
we  should  have  accomplished  my  wishes  had  it  not 
been  for  the  untoward  influence  of  sundry  bears.  The 
tracks  of  these  animals  \yere  becoming  more  and  more 


L/tM 


i 


602 


A    BEAU    HUN  T. 


numerous  as  we  rounded  one  iceberg  after  another ; 
and  we  could  see  the  beds  they  had  worn  in  the  snow 
while  watching  for  seal.  These  swayed  the  dogs  from 
their  course :  yet  we  kept  edging  onward ;  and  when 
in  sight  of  the  northern  coast,  about  thirty  miles  from 
the  central  peak  of  the  *  Three  Brothers,'  I  saw  a  deep 
band  of  stratus  lying  over  the  horizon  in  the  direction 
of  Kennedy  Channel.  This  water-sky  indicated  the 
continued  opening  of  the  channel,  and  made  me  more 
deeply  anxious  to  proceed.  But  at  this  moment  our 
dogs  encountered  a  large  male  bear  in  the  act  of  de- 
vouring a  seal.  The  impulse  was  irresistible :  I  lost 
all  control  over  both  dogs  and  drivers.  They 
seemed  dead  to  every  thing  but  the  passion  of  pur- 
suit. Off  they  sped  with  incredible  swiftness ;  the 
Esquimaux  clinging  to  their  sledges  and  cheering 
their  dogs  with  loud  cries  of '  Nannook !'  A  mad,  wild 
chase,  wilder  than  German  legend, — the  dog^,  wolves ; 
the  drivers,  devils.  After  a  furious  run  the  animal 
was  brought  to  bay ;  the  lance  and  the  rifle  did  their 
work,  and  we  halted  for  a  general  feed.  The  dogs 
gorged  themselves,  the  drivers  did  as  much,  and  we 
buried  the  remainder  of  the  carcass  in  the  snow. 

"  We  took  a  four  hours'  sleep  on  the  open  ice,  the 
most  uncomfortable  that  I  remember.  Our  fatigue 
had  made  us  dispense  with  the  snow-hoiise;  and 
though  1  was  heavily  clad  in  a  full  suit  of  furs,  and 
squeezed  myself  in  between  Kalutunah  and  Shanghu, 
I  could  not  bear  the  intense  temperature.  I  rose  in 
the  morning  stiff  and  sore.  I  mention  it  as  a  trait  of 
nobleness  on  the  part  of  Kalutunah,  which  I  appreci- 
ated very  sensibly  at  the  time,  that,  seeing  me  suffer, 
he  took  his  kapetah  from  his  back  and  placed  it 
around  my  feet. 


ENTERPRISING    HUNTERS. 


603 


"  The  next  day  I  tried  again  to  make  my  friends 
steer  to  the  northward.  But  the  bears  were  most  nu- 
merous upon  the  Greenland  side ;  and  they  detennined 
to  push  on  toward  the  glacier.  All  my  remonstran- 
ces and  urgent  entreaties  were  unavailing  to  make 
them  resume  their  promised  route. 

"  I  found  now  that  my  projected  survey  of  the 
northern  coast  must  be  abandoned,  at  least  for  the 
time.  My  next  wish  was  to  get  back  to  the  brig,  and 
to  negotiate  with  Metek  for  a  purchase  or  loan  of 
his  dogs  as  my  last  chance.  But  even  this  was  not 
readily  gratified.  All  of  Saturday  was  spent  in  bear- 
hunting.  The  natives,  as  indomitable  as  their  dogs, 
made  the  entire  circuit  of  Dallas  Bay,  and  finally 
halted  again  under  one  of  the  islands  which  tj^roup 
themselves  between  the  headlands  of  Advance  Bay 
and  at  the  base  of  the  glacier." 


"Ill  ■■' 


II 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

DR  KANES  SECOND  EXPEDITION. 

(continued.) 

*'  The  detailed  preparations  for  our  escape  would 
have  little  interest  for  the  general  reader ;  but  they 
were  so  arduous  and  so  important  that  I  cannot  pass 
them  by  without  a  special  notice.  They  had  been 
begun  from  an  early  day  of  the  fall,  and  had  not  been 
entirely  intermitted  during  our  severest  winter-trials. 

"  Recognizing  the  importance  of  acting  directly  upon 
the  men's  minds,  my  first  stop  now  was  to  issue  a  gen- 
eral order  appointing  a  certain  day,  the  17th  of  May, 
for  setting  out.  Every  man  had  twenty-four  hours 
given  him  to  select  and  got  ready  his  eight  pounds 
of  personal  effects.  After  that,  his  time  was  to  cease 
to  be  his  own  for  any  purpose. 

"  I  tried  my  best  also  to  fix  and  diffuse  impressions 
that  we  were  going  home.  But  in  this  I  was  not  al- 
ways successful :  I  was  displeased,  indeed,  with  the 
moody  indifference  with  which  many  went  about  the 
tasks  to  which  I  put  them.  The  completeness  of  my 
preparations  I  know  had  its  influence ;  but  there  were 
miny  doubters.  Some  were  convinced  that  my  only 
object  was  to  move  farther  south,  retaining  the  brig, 
however,  as  a  home  to  retreat  to.  Others  whispered 
that  I  wanted  to  transport  the  sick  to  the  hunting- 
grounds  and  other  resources  of  the  lower  settlements^ 

604 


r. 

)e  would 
but  they 
mot  pass 
lad  been 
not  been 
iter-trials. 
ctly  upon 
vie  a  gen- 
i  of  May, 
lur  hours 
it  pounds 
to  cease 

^pressions 
ms  not  al- 
Iwith  the 
[ibout  the 
pss  of  my 
lerc  were 
my  only 
I  the  brig, 
Ivhispered 
hunting- 
ttlements, 


lift;  III 


#|i 


,ii 


riSif 


m 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    STARTING    SOUTH.      607 

which  I  had  such  difficulty  in  preventing  the  muti- 
nous from  securing  for  themselves  alone.  A  few  of  a 
more  cheerful  spirit  thought  I  hod  resolved  to  make 
for  some  point  of  look-out,  in  the  hope  of  a  rescue  by 
whalers  or  English  expedition  parties  which  were  sup- 
posed still  to  be  within  the  Arctic  circle.  The  number 
is  unfortunately  small  of  those  human  beings  whom 
calamity  elevates. 

"  There  was  no  sign  of  affectation  of  spirited  enthusi- 
asm upon  the  memorable  day  when  we  first  adjusted  the 
boats  to  their  cradles  on  the  sledges  and  moved  them 
oir  to  the  ice-foot  But  the  ice  immediately  around 
the  vessel  was  smooth ;  and,  as  the  boats  had  not  re- 
ceived their  lading,  the  first  labor  was  an  easy  one. 
As  the  runners  moved,  the  gloom  of  several  counte- 
nances was  perceptibly  lightened.  The  croakers  had 
protested  that  we  could  not  stir  an  inch.  These  cheer- 
ing remarks  always  reach  a  commander's  ears,  and  I 
took  good  care  of  course  to  make  the  outset  contra- 
dict them.  By  the  time  we  reached  the  end  of  our 
little  level,  the  tone  had  improved  wonderfully,  and 
we  were  prepared  for  the  effort  of  crossing  the  suc- 
cessive lines  of  the  belt-ice  and  forcing  a  way  through 
the  smashed  material  which  interposed  between  us  and 
the  ice-foot 

"  This  was  a  work  of  great  difficulty,  and  sorrowfully 
exhausting  to  the  poor  fellows  not  yet  accustomed  to 
heave  together.  But  in  the  end  I  had  the  satisfaction, 
before  twenty-four  hours  were  over,  of  seeing  our  lit- 
tle arks  of  safety  hauled  upon  tlie  higher  plane  of  the 
icefoot,  in  full  trim  for  ornamental  exhibition  from 
the  brig ;  their  neat  canvas  housing  rigged  tentrfash- 
ion  over  the  entire  length  of  each ;  a  jaunty  little  flag 
made  out  of  one  cf  the  commander's  obsolete  linen 


'A 


608 


FAREWELL    TO    THE    URIO. 


Bhirts,  decorated  in  stripes  from  a  disused  article  of 
stationery,  the  rod  ink-bottle,  and  with  a  very  little  of 
the  blue  bag  in  the  star-spangled  corner.  All  hands 
after  this  returned  on  board :  I  had  ready  for  thorn 
the  besst  supper  our  supplies  alTorded,  and  liioy 
turaed  in  with  minds  prepared  for  their  departure  next 
day. 

"  Our  last  farewell  to  the  brig  was  made  with  more 
solemnity.  The  entire  ship's  company  was  colleotod 
in  our  dismantled  winter-chamber,  to  take  part  in  the 
ceremonial.  It  was  Sunday.  Our  moss  w;i]ls  jjad 
been  torn  down,  and  the  wood  that  supported  thoin 
burned.  Our  beds  wore  nlT  at  the  boats.  The  galloy 
was  unfurnished  and  cold.  Every  things  about  the  lit- 
tle den  of  refuge  was  desolate. 

"  We  read  prayers  and  a  chapter  of  the  Bible ;  and 
then,  all  standing  silently  round,  I  took  Sir  .Tolni 
Franklin's  portrait  from  its  frame  and  cased  it  in  an 
India-rubber  scroll.  I  next  read  the  reports  of  ins[)oc- 
tion  and  scurvy  which  had  been  made  by  the  several 
commissioners  organized  for  the  pur[)0se,  all  of  tliom 
testifying  to  the  necessities  under  which  I  was  about 
to  act.  I  then  addressed  the  party  :  I  did  not  aflcct 
to  disguise  the  difficulties  that  were  before  us;  but  I 
assured  them  that  they  could  all  be  overcome  by  en- 
ergy and  subordination  to  command :  and  that  the 
thirteen  hundred  miles  of  ice  and  water  that  lay  be- 
tween us  and  North  Greenland  could  be  traversed 
with  safety  for  most  of  us  and  hope  for  all. 

"I  was  met  with  a  right  spirit.  After  a  short  con- 
ference, an  engagement  was  drawn  up  by  one  of  the 
officers,  and  brouglit  to  me,  with  the  signatures  of  all 
the  company,  without  an  exception. 

."  We  then  went  upon  deck :  the  flags  were  hoisted 


tide  of 
little  of 
1  hands 
or  tlioin 
(1  tlioy 
irc  next 

th  more 
loUct'ted 
rt  in  the 
nils  Imd 
ed  thorn 
ic  galley 
t  the  lit- 

blo;  and 
ir   John 
it  in  an 
f  inspoc- 
sevoral 
lof  them 
s  about 
t  aftcct 
;  but  I 
by  en- 
ihat  the 
lay  be- 
averscd 

)rt  con- 

of  the 

ks  of  all 

hoisted 


#1* 


i^  I 


f  '  * 


THE    SICK    AT    A  NO  AT  OK. 


Oil 


ami  hauled  down  a^ain,  and  our  party  walked  onre  or 
twico  nround  the  brl^,  looking  at  iier  timbers  and  ex- 
changing comments  upon  the  scars  which  reminded 
tiiem  of  every  stage  of  Iier  dismantling.  Our  figurc- 
liead — the  fair  Augusta,  the  little  blue  girl  with  pink 
cheeks,  who  had  lost  her  breast  by  an  iceberg  and  her 
nose  by  a  nip  oft'  Bedevilled  Reach — was  taken  from 
our  bows  and  placed  aboard  the  *  Hope.'  *  She  is  at 
any  rate  wood,'  said  the  men,  when  I  hesitated  about 
giving  them  the  additional  burden  ;  '  and  if  wo  can- 
not carry  her  far  we  can  burn  her.' 

"  As  I  review  my  notes  of  i\w  first  few  days  of  our 
ice-journey,  I  find  them  full  of  incidents  interesting 
and  o\en  momentous  when  they  occurred,  but  which 
cannot  claim  a  place  in  this  narrative.  The  sledges 
wore  advancing  slowly,  the  men  ':"*:en  discouraged, 
and  now  and  then  one  giving  way  under  the  unaccus- 
tomed lal)or ;  the  sick  at  Anoatok  always  dreary  in 
their  solitude,  and  suffering,  periiaps,  under  an  exacer- 
bation of  disease,  or,  like  the  rest  of  us,  from  a  pen- 
ury of  appiopriate  food.  Things  looked  gloomy 
enough  at  times. 

"  Taking  with  me  Morton,  my  faithful  adjutant  al- 
ways, 1  hurried  on  to  the  ])rig.  It  was  in  the  full 
glare  of  noon  that  we  entered  the  familiar  curve  of 
Rensselaer  Bay,  The  black  spars  of  our  deserted 
ves.sel  cut  sharply  against  the  shores ;  there  was  the 
deeply-marked  snow-track  that  led  to  Observatory 
Island  and  the  graves  of  poor  Baker  and  Schubert, 
with  their  cairn  and  its  white-cross  beacon:  everything 
looked  as  when  we  defiled  in  funeral  procession  round 
the  cliffs  a  year  before.  But,  as  we  came  close  upon 
the  brig  and  drove  our  dogs  up  the  gangway,  along 
which  Bonsall  and  myself  had  staggered  so  often  with 


612 


APPROACH     TO    ETAH. 


our  daily  loads  of  ice,  we  beared  the  rustling  of  wings, 
and  a  large  raven  sailed  away  in  the  air  past  Sylvia 
Headland.  It  was  old  Magog,  one  of  a  pair  that  had 
cautiously  haunted  near  our  brig  during  the  last  two 
years.     He  bad  already  appropriated  our  homestead. 

"  We  lighted  fires  in  the  galley,  melted  pork,  baked 
a  large  batch  of  bread,  gathered  together  a  quantity 
of  beans  and  dried  apples,  somewhat  damaged  but  still 
eatable,  and  by  the  time  our  dogs  had  fed  and  rested, 
we  were  ready  for  the  return.  I  gave  a  last  look  at 
the  desolate  galley-stove,  the  representative  of  our 
long  winter's  fire-side,  at  the  still  bright  coppers  now 
full  of  frozen  water,  the  theodolite,  the  chart-box,  and 
poor  Wilson's  guitar, — one  more  at  the  remnant  of 
the  old  moss  walls,  the  useless  daguerreotypes,  and  the 
skeletons  of  dog  and  deer  and  bear  and  musk-ox, — 
stoppered  in  the  rigging ; — and,  that  done,  whipped 
up  my  dogs  so  much  after  the  manner  of  a  sentimen- 
talizing Christian,  that  our  pagan  Metek  raised  a 
prayer  in  their  behalf. 

"It  was  quite  late  in  the  evening  when  I  drew  near 
Etah.  I  mean  that  it  was  verging  on  to  our  midnight, 
the  sun  being  low  in  the  heavens,  and  the  air  breath- 
ing that  solemn  stillness  which  belongs  to  the  sleeping- 
time  of  birds  and  plants.  I  had  not  quite  reached 
the  little  settlement  when  loud  sounds  of  laughter 
came  to  my  ear ;  and,  turning  the  cape,  I  burst  sud- 
denly upon  an  encampment  of  the  inhabitants. 

"  Some  thirty  men,  women,  and  children,  were  gath- 
ered together  upon  a  little  face  of  offal-stained  rock. 
Except  a  bank  of  moss,  which  broke  the  wind-draught, 
from  the  fiord,  they  were  entirely  without  protection 
from  the  weather,  though  the  temperature  was  6°  be- 
low zero.     The   huts  were   completly  deserted,  the 


*«;■''! 


A    MIDNIGHT    FESTIVAL. 


613 


snow  tossut  had  fallen  in,  and  the  window  was  as  free 
and  open  as  summer  to  the  purifying  air.  Every  liv- 
ing thing  about  the  settlement  was  out  upon  the  bare 
rocks. 

"  Rudest  of  gypsies,  how  they  squalled,  and  laughed, 
and  snored,  and  rolled  about!  Some  were  sucking 
bird-skins,  others  were  boiling  incredible  numbers  of 
auks  in  huge  soapstone  pots,  and  two  youngsters,  cry- 
ing, at  the  top  of  their  voices,  '  Oopegsoak !  Oopeg- 
soak!'  were  fighting  for  an  owl.  It  was  the  only 
specimen  that  I  had  seen  except  on  the  wing ;  but,  be- 
fore I  could  secure  it,  they  had  torn  it  limb  from  limb, 
and  were  eating  its  warm  flesh  and  blood,  their  faces 
buried  among  its  dishevelled  feathers. 

"  The  scene  was  redolent  of  plenty  and  ignorance, 
the  dolcefrtr  niente  of  the  short-lived  Esquimaux  sum- 
mer. Provision  for  the  dark  winter  was  furthest  from 
their  thoughts ;  for,  although  the  rocks  were  patched 
with  sun-dried  birds,  a  single  hunting  party  from  Pe- 
teravik  could  have  eaten  up  their  entire  supplies  in  a 
single  night. 

"  Before  I  left  Etah  on  my  return,  I  took  an  early 
stroll  with  Sip-su, '  the  handsome  boy,'  to  the  lake  back 
of  my  old  traveling-route,  and  directly  under  the  face 
of  the  glacier. 

"  He  led  me  first  to  the  play-groimd,  where  all  his 
young  friends  of  the  settlement  were  busy  in  one  of 
their  sports.  Each  of  them  had  a  walrus-rib  for  a 
golph  or  shinny-stick,  and  thoy  were  contending  to 
drive  a  hurley,  made  out  of  the  round  knob  of  a  flip- 
per joint,  up  a  bank  of  frozen  snow.  Roars  of  laugh- 
ter greeted  the  impatient  striker  as  he  missed  his  blow 
at  the  shining  ball,  and  eager  cries  told  how  close  the 
match  was  drawing  to  an  end.     They  were  counting 


614 


THE    SICK    IMPROVING. 


on  the  fingers  of  both  hands,  eight,  eight,  eight :  the 
game  is  ten. 

"Strange, — the  thought  intrucled  itself,  but  there 
was  no  wisdom  in  it, — strange  that  these  famine- 
pinched  wanderers  of  the  ice  should  rejoice  in  sports 
and  playthings  like  the  children  of  our  own  smiling 
sky,  and  that  parents  should  fashion  for  them 
toy  sledges,  and  harpoons,  and  nets,  miniature  em- 
blems of  a  life  of  suffering  and  peril !  how  strange  this 
joyous  merriment  under  the  monitory  shadow  of  these 
jagged  ice-cliffs !  My  spirit  was  oppressed  as  I  imag- 
ined the  possibility  of  our  tarrying  longer  in  these  fro- 
zen regions ;  but  it  was  ordinary  life  with  these  other 
children  of  the  same  Creator,  and  they  were  playing 
as  unconcerned  as  the  birds  that  circled  above  our 
heads.  '  Fear  not,  therefore :  ye  arc  of  more  value 
than  many  sparrows.' 

"  I  was  glad  when  I  reached  the  sick-station  to  find 
things  so  much  better.  Everybody  was  stronger,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  more  cheerful.  They  had  learned 
housekeeping  with  its  courtesies  as  well  as  comforts. 
Their  kotluk  would  have  done  credit  to  Aningnah  her- 
self: they  had  a  dish  of  tea  for  us,  and  a  lump  of  Aval- 
rus;  and  they  bestirred  themselves  real  housewife- 
fashion,  to  give  us  the  warm  place  and  make  us  com- 
fortable. I  was  right  sorry  to  leave  them,  for  the 
snow  outside  was  drifting  with  the  gale ;  but  after  a 
little  while  the  dogs  struck  the  track  of  the  sledges, 
and,  following  it  with  unerring  instinct,  did  not  slacken 
their  pace  till  they  had  brought  us  to  our  compan- 
ions on  the  floe. 

"  They  had  wisely  halted  on  account  of  the  storm, 
and,  with  their  three  little  boats  drawn  up  side  by  side 
for  mutual  protection,  had  been  lying  to  for  the  past 


OUT    IN    A    GALE. 


015 


two  clays,  tightly  lioused,  and  moorcd  fast  Ity  wliale- 
lines  to  tlie  ieo.  But  the  drifts  liad  ahnost  huriol  the 
'  Hope,'  which  was  the  windward  boat ;  and  when  I 
saw  the  burly  form  of  Brookt^  emerging  from  the 
snow-covered  roof,  I  could  have  fancied  it  a  walrus 
rising  through  the  ice. 

"  Six  Es(|uimaux,  three  of  them  women, — the  uuly 
beauty,  Nessark's  wife,  at  the  head  of  thom, — had 
come  off  to  the  boats  for  shelter  from  the  gale.  Tiiey 
seemed  so  entirely  deferential,  and  to  recognize  with 
such  simple  trust  our  mutual  relations  of  alliance,  that 
I  resolved  to  drive  down  to  Etah  with  Petersen  as  in- 
terpreter, and  formally  claim  assistance,  according  to 
their  own  laws,  on  the  ground  of  our  estal)lished 
brotherhood. 

'Our  dogs  moved  slowly,  and  the  discolor'^d  ice  ad- 
monished me  to  make  long  circuits.  As  we  ncared 
Littleton  Island,  the  wind  blew  so  fiercely  from  the 
southwest,  that  I  determined  to  take  the  in-shorc  chan- 
nel and  attempt  to  make  the  settlement  over  land. 
But  I  was  hardly  under  the  lee  of  the  islan«l.  when 
tliero  broke  upon  us  one  of  the  most  fearful  gales  I 
have  ever  experienced.  It  had  the  character  and  the 
force  of  a  cyclone.  The  dogs  were  literally  blown 
fiom  their  harness,  and  it  was  only  by  throwing  our- 
selves on  our  faces  that  we  saved  ourselves  from  being 
swept  away:  it  seemed  as  if  the  ice  must  give  way. 
We  availed  ourselves  of  a  momentary  lull  to  shoulder 
the  sledge,  and,  calling  the  affrighted  dogs  around 
us,  made  for  the  rocks  of  Eider  Island,  and,  after  the 
most  exhausting  exertions,  succeded  in  gaining  terra 
lirina. 

"  We  struck  a  headland  on  the  main  shore,  where  a 
dark  ho.rnblende   rock,  perhaps   thirty  feet  high,  had 


m 


,'11; 


ri' 


II 


:\M 


i'r*\ 


or. 


61G 


c  u  M  1 0    ii  1 H  i:  11 Y . 


formed  a  barricade,  boliind  which  tlie  drifts  piled  them- 
selves ;  and  into  this  mound  of  snow  we  hud  just 
strength  enough  left  to  dig  a  burrow.  "VVe  knew  it 
soon  after  as  Cape  Misery. 

"The  dogs  and  sledge  were  dragged  in,  anrl  Peter- 
sen and  myself,  reclining  '  spoon-ltishion,'  cowered 
among  them.  The  snow  piled  over  us  all,  and  we  Avere 
very  soon  so  roofed  in  and  quilted  round  that  the 
storm  seemed  to  rage  far  outside  of  us.  We  could 
only  hear  the  wind  droning  like  a  great  fly-wheel,  ex- 
cept when  a  surge  of  greater  malignity  would  sweep 
up  over  our  burial-place  and  sift  the  snow  upon  the 
surface  like  hail.  Our  greatest  enemy  here  was 
warmth.  Our  fur  jumpers  had  been  literally  torn  off 
our  backs  by  the  wind ;  but  the  united  respiration  (>f 
dogs  and  men  melted  the  snow  around  us,  and  we 
were  soon  wet  to  the  skin. 

"Is  it  possible  to  imagine  a  juncture  of  moi-e  coiuic 
annoyance  than  that  which  now  introduced  itself 
among  the  terrors  of  our  position  ?  Toodla,  our  mas- 
ter-dog, was  seized  with  a  violent  fit ;  and,  as  their 
custom  is,  his  companions  indulged  in  a  family  con- 
flict upon  the  occasion,  which  was  only  mediated,  after 
much  eflbrt,  at  the  sacrifice  of  all  that  remained  of 
Petersen's  pantaloons  and  drawers. 

"  We  had  all  the  longing  for  repose  that  accompa- 
nies extreme  prostration,  and  had  been  fearing  every 
moment  that  the  combatants  would  bring  the  snow 
down  upon  us.  At  last  down  came  our  whole  canopy, 
and  we  were  exposed  in  an  instant  to  the  fury  of  the 
elements.  I  do  not  think,  often  as  I  have  gone  up  on 
deck  from  a  close  cabin  in  a  gale  at  sea,  that  1  was 
ever  more  struck  with  the  extreme  noise  and  tunuilt 
of  a  storm. 


BOAT    CAM!'    IN    A    STOKM. 


t' 


OOOD-BVK    TO    TllK     KSyl  IMAf  X. 


l-^  1 


A    CRYSTAL     PALACE. 


619 


"  Once  more  snowed  up, — for  the  drift  built  its  crys- 
tal palace  rapidly  about  us, — we  remained  cram[)ed 
and  seething  till  our  appetites  reminded  us  of  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  inner  man.  To  breast  the  gale  was 
simply  impossible ;  the  alternative  was  to  drive  before 
it  to  the  north  and  east.  Forty  miles  of  floundering 
travel  brought  us  in  twenty  hours  to  the  party  on  the 
floes.        v  • 

"  Still  passing  slowly  on  day  after  day, — I  am  reluc- 
tant to  borrow  from  my  journal  tlie  details  of  anxiety 
and  embarrassment  with  which  it  abounds  throughout 
this  period, — we  came  at  last  to  the  unmistakjible 
neighborhood  of  the  open  water.  We  were  off  Peki- 
utlik,  the  largest  of  the  Littleton  Island  group,  oi)po- 
site  '  Kosoak,'  the  Great  River.  Here  Mr.  Wilson  and 
George  Whijiple  rejoined  us,  under  the  faithful  charge 
of  old  Nessark.  It  was  with  truly  thankful  hearts 
we  united  in  our  prayers  that  evening. 

"  One  only  was  absent  of  all  the  party  that  re- 
mained on  our  rolls.  Ilans,  the  kind  son  and  ardent 
young  lover  of  Fiskernaes,  my  well-trusted  friend,  had 
been  missing  for  nearly  two  months.  I  am  loth  to 
tell  the  story  as  I  believe  it,  for  it  may  not  be  the 
true  one,  after  all,  and  I  would  not  intimate  an  unwar- 
ranted doubt  of  the  constancy  of  boyish  love.  But 
I  must  explain,  as  far  as  I  can  at  least,  why  he  was  not 
with  us  when  we  first  looked  at  the  open  water.  Just 
before  my  departure  for  my  April  hunt,  Hans  came  to 
me  with  a  long  face,  asking  permission  to  visit  Peteravik : 
'  he  had  no  boots,  and  wanted  to  lay  in  a  stock  of 
walrus-hide  for  soles :  he  did  not  need  the  dogs ;  he 
would  rather  walk.'  It  was  a  long  march,  but  he 
was  well  practised  in  it,  and  I  consented,  of  course. 

"  Hans  the  faithful — yet,  I  fear,  the  faithless — was 


P'  .?l 


^J?'/!'' 


m' 


02  0 


AT    THE    OPEN    WATER. 


last  seen  upon  a  native  sledge,  driving  south  from  Poter- 
avik  with  a  maiden  at  his  side,  and  professedly  bound 
to  a  new  principality  at  Uwarrow  Suk-suk,  high  up 
Murchison's  Sound.  Alas  for  Hans,  the  married  man ! 
•  "June  16.  Our  boats  are  at  the  open  water.  We 
see  its  deep  indigo  horizon,  and  hear  its  roar  against 
the  icy  beach.  Its  scent  is  in  our  nostrils  and 
our  hearts.  Our  camp  is  but  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  from  the  sea :  it  is  at  the  northern  curve  of  the 
North  Baffin  polynia.  "We  must  reach  it  at  the  south- 
ern sweep  of  Etah  Bay,  about  three  miles  from  Cape 
Alexander.  A  dark  headland  defines  the  spot.  It  is 
more  marked  than  the  southern  entrance  of  Smith's 
Straits.  How  magnificently  the  surf  beats  against  its 
sides. 

"The   Esquimaux  are  camped  by  our   side, — the 
whole  settlement  of  Etah  congregated  around  the  'biff 

m  O  CD  O 

caldron '  of  Cape  Alexander,  to  bid  us  good-bye.  There 
are  Metek,  and  Nualik  his  wife,  our  old  acquaintance 
Mrs.  Eider-duck,  and  their  five  children,  commencing 
with  Myouk,  my  body-guard,  and  ending  with  the 
ventricose  little  Accomodah.  There  is  Nessark  and 
Anak  his  wife ;  and  Tellerk  the  '  Right  Arm,'  and  Am- 
aunalik  his  wife  ;  find  Sip  su,  and  Marsumah  and  An- 
ingnah — and  who  not?  I  can  name  them  every  one, 
and  they  know  us  as  well.  We  have  found  brothers 
in  a  strange  land. 

"  Each  one  has  a  knife,  or  a  file,  or  a  saw,  or  some  such 
treasured  keepsake ;  and  tlie  children  have  a  lump  of 
soap,  the  greatest  of  all  great  medicines.  The  merry  little 
urchins  break  in  upon  me  even  now  as  I  am  writing: 
— '■  Kuyanake,  kuyanake,  Nalegak-soak !'  '  Thank  you, 
thank  you,  big  chief!'  while  Myouk  is  crowding  fresh 
presents  of  raw  birds  on  me  as  if  I  could  eat  forever, 


GOOD-liYE    TO    THE    ESQUIMAUX.         C21 


jind  poor  Aningiiiah  is  crying  beside  the  tent-curtain, 
wiping  her  eyes  on  a  bird-skin. 

*'•  But  see !  more  of  them  are  coming  up — boys  ten 
years  old  pushing  forward  babies  on  their  sledges. 
The  whole  nation  is  gypsying  with  us  upon  tlie  icy 
meadows. 

''  VV  e  cook  for  them  in  our  big  camp-kettle ;  they 
sleep  in  the  Red  Erie  ;  a  berg  close  at  hand  supplies 
them  with  water:  and  thus,  rich  in  all  that  they  value, 
— sleep  and  food  and  diink  and  companionship, — with 
their  treasured  short-lived  summer  sun  above  them, 
the  heau  ideal  and  sum  of  Esquimaux  blessings,  they 
seem  supremely  happy. 

"  Poor  creatures !  it  is  only  six  months  ago  that 
starvation  was  among  them :  many  of  the  faces 
around  me  have  not  yet  lost  the  lines  of  wasting  sus- 
pense. The  walrus-season  is  again  of  doubtful  produc- 
tiveness, and  they  are  cut  off  from  their  brethren  to 
the  south,  at  Netellk  and  Appah,  until  whiter  rebuilds 
the  avenue  of  ice.  With  ail  this,  no  thoughts  of  the 
future  cross  them.  Babies  squall,  and  women  chatter, 
and  the  men  weave  their  long  yarns  with  peals  of  rat- 
tling hearty  laughter  between. 

"  They  listened  with  breathless  interest,  closing  their 
circle  round  me ;  and,  as  Petersen  described  the  big 
ussuk,  the  white  whale,  the  bear,  and  the  long  o})un 
water  hunts  with  the  kayak  and  the  rifle,  they  looked 
at  each  other  with  a  significance  not  to  be  misunder- 
stood. 

"  It  was  in  the  soft  subdued  light  of  a  Sunday  evening, 
June  17,  that,  after  hauling  our  boats  with  much  hard 
labor  through  hummocks,  we  stood  beside  the  open  sea- 
way. Before  midnight  we  had  launched  the  Red  Eric, 
and  given  three  cheers  \'ov  Henry  Grinnell  and  '  home- 
ward bound,'  unfurling  all  our  Ihigs. 


622 


EMBARKATION. 


"  But  wc  were  not  yet  to  embark ;  for  the  gale 
which  hud  been  loii<^  brooding  now  began  to  dash  a 
heavy  wind-Upper  against  the  floe,  and  obliged  us  to 
retreat  before  it,  hauling  our  boats  back  Avith  each 
fresh  breakage  of  the  ice.  It  rose  more  fiercely,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  give  way  before  it  still  more.  Our 
goods,  which  had  been  stacked  upon  the  ice,  had  to  be 
carried  farther  inward.  We  worl<ed  our  way  back  thus, 
step  by  step,  before  the  breaking  ice,  for  about  two 
hundred  yards.  At  last  it  became  apparent  that  the 
men  must  sleep  and  rest,  or  sink ;  and,  giving  up  for 
the  present  all  thoughts  of  embarking,  1  hauled  the 
boats  at  once  nearly  a  mile  from  the  water's  edge, 
where  a  large  iceberg  was  frozen  tight  in  the  floes. 

"The  gale  died  aw;iy  to  a  cahn,  and  the  water  l)c- 
came  as  tranquil  as  if  the  gale  had  never  been.  All 
hands  wore  called  to  prepare  for  embarking.  The 
boats  were  stowed,  and  the  cargo  divided  between 
them  equally ;  the  sledges  unlashed  and  slung  outside 
the  gunwales;  and  on  Thursday  the  19th,  at  4  p.m., 
with  the  bay  as  smooth  as  a  garden-lake,  I  put  off  in 
the  Faith.  She  was  followed  by  the  Red  Eric  on  our 
quarter,  and  the  Hope  astern. 

"  We  crossed  Murchison  Channel  on  the  23d,  and 
encamped  for  the  night  on  the  land-floe  at  the  base  of 
Cape  Perry;  a  hard  day's  travel,  partly  by  tracking  over 
ice,  partly  through  tortuous  and  zigzag  leads.  The 
next  day  brought  us  to  the  neighborhood  of  Fitz  Clar- 
ence Rock,  one  of  the  most  interesting  monuments 
that  rear  themselves  along  this  dreary  coast :  in  a  re- 
gion more  familiar  to  men,  it  would  be  a  landmark  to 
the  navigator.  It  rises  from  a  field  of  ice  like  an  Egyp- 
tian pyramid  surmounted  by  an  obelisk. 

"  While  the  men  slept  after  their  weary  labor.  Me- 


A    HA U DEN  IN O    VIEW. 


623 


Gary  and  myself  climbed  the  berg  for  a  view  ahead. 
It  was  a  saddening  one.  Eveiy  thing  showed  how  in- 
tense the  last  winter  had  been.  We  were  close  npon 
the  1st  of  July,  and  had  a  right  to  look  for  the  North 
Water  of  the  whalers  where  we  now  had  solid  iee  or 
close  pack,  both  of  them  almost  equally  unfavorable 
to  our  progress.  Far  off  in  the  distance — how  far  I 
could  not  measure — rose  the  Dtdrymple  Rock,  pro- 
jecting from  the  lofty  precipice  of  the  island  ahead  ; 
but  between  us  and  it  the  land  ice  spread  itself  from 
the  base  of  Saunder's  Island  unbroken  to  the  Far 
South. 

"  The  imperfect  diet  of  the  party  was  showing  itself 
more  and  more  in  the  decline  of  their  muscular 
power.  They  seemed  scarcely  aware  of  it  thoinsolves, 
and  referred  the  difficulty  they  found  in  dragging  and 
pushing,  to  something  imcommon  about  the  ice  or 
slodge  rather  than  to  their  own  weakness.  But,  as 
we  endeavored  to  renew  our  labors  through  the  morn- 
ing fog,  belted  in  on  all  sides  by  ice-fields  so  distorted 
and  rugged  as  to  defy  our  efforts  to  cross  them,  the 
truth  seemed  to  burst  upon  every  one.  We  had  lost 
the  feeling  of  hunger,  and  were  almost  satisfied  with 
our  pasty  broth  and  the  large  draughts  of  tea  which 
accompanied  it.  I  was  anxious  to  send  our  small 
boat,  the  Eric,  across  to  the  lumme-hill  of  Appah, 
where  I  knew  from  the  Esquimaux  we  should  find 
plenty  of  birds ;  but  the  strength  of  the  party  was 
insufBcient  to  drag  her. 

"  We  were  sorely  disheartened,  and  could  only  wait 
for  the  fog  to  rise,  in  the  hope  of  some  smoother  plat- 
form than  that  which  was  about  us,  or  some  lead 
that  might  save  us  the  painful  labor  of  tracking.  I  had 
climbed  the  iceberg ;  and  there  was  nothing  in  view  ex- 
cept Dalrymplo  Rock,  with  its  rod  brassy  face  tower- 


t\ 


ilipf 


iiiii 


.1:1 


624 


URliAK-UP    OF    THE    FLOE. 


ing  in  tho  unknown  distance.  But  I  liardly  got  back 
to  my  boat,  before  a  gale  struck  um  IVoui  the  noitii- 
west,  and  a  lloe,  taking  upon  a  tongue  of  ice  about  a 
mile  to  tho  north  of  us,  began  lo  swiug  upon  it  like 
a  pivot  and  close  slowly  in  upon  our  narrow  resiiiHr- 
phice. 

"At  first  our  own  floe  also  was  driven  belbri;  the 
wind  ;  but  in  a  little  while  it  encountered  the  staliouiuy 
ice  at  the  foot  of  the  very  rock  itself  On  the  instant 
the  wildest  hnaginablc  ruin  rose  around  us.  The  men 
sprang  mechanically  each  one  to  his  station,  bearing 
back  the  boats  and  stores  ;  but  I  gave  up  for  tlie  mo- 
ment all  hope  of  our  escape.  It  was  not  a  nip,  such  as  is 
familiar  to  Arctic  navigators;  but  the  whole  platform, 
where  we  stood  and  for  hundreds  of  yards  on  every 
side  oi"  us,  crumbled  and  crushed  and  piled  and  tossed 
itself  madly  under  the  pressure.  I  do  not  believo 
that  of  our  little  body  of  men,  all  of  them  disci[)lined 
in  trials,  able  to  measure  danger  while  condxitting  it, 
— I  do  not  believe  there  is  one  who  this  day  can  ex- 
plain how  or  why — hardly  when,  in  fact — we  I'uund 
ourselves  afloat.  We  only  know  that  in  the  midst  of 
a  clamor  utterly  indescribable,  through  which  the  bray- 
ing of  a  thousand  trumjjets  could  no  more  have  been 
heard  than  the  voice  of  a  man,  we  were  shaken  and 
raised  and  whirled  and  let  down  again  in  a  swelling 
waste  of  broken  hunmiocks,  and,  as  the  men  grasped 
their  boat-hooks  in  the  stillness  that  followed,  the 
bouts  eddied  away  in  a  tumultuous  skreed  of  ice  and 
snow  and  water. 

"  We  were  borne  along  in  this  manner  as  long  as 
the  ludjroken  remnant  of  the  in-shore  floe  continued 
revolving, — utterly  powerless,  and  catching  a  ghnipt^e 
every  now   and    then  of  the   brazen   headland   that 


WEAHV    man's    UK8T. 


G25 


looked  down  on  ns  tIirou<,di  the  snowy  sky.  At  lust 
the  lioe  brought  up  u<^iiiiist  the  rocks,  the  looser  IVag- 
meuts  that  hung  round  it  hegjin  to  separate,  and  we 
were  able  by  oars  and  boat-hooks  to  force  our  liuttered 
little  Hot  ilia  clear  of  them.  To  our  joyful  surpri.se, 
we  soon  found  ourselves  in  a  stretch  of  the  land-water 
wide  enough  to  give  us  ri»wing  room,  and  with  the  as- 
sured promise  of  land  close  ahead. 

'•At  three  o'clock  the  tide  was  high  enough  for  us  to 
scale  the  ice-clill!  One  l)y  one  we  pulled  up  the  boats 
U})on  a  narrow  shelf,  the  whole  sixteen  of  us  imiting  at 
each  pull.  We  were  too  much  worn  down  to  un- 
load ;  but  a  deep  and  narrow  gorge  opened  in  tlie 
clids  almost  at  the  spot  where  we  cUunbered  up ;  and, 
as  we  pushed  the  boats  into  it  on  an  even  keel,  the 
rocks  seemed  to  close  iibovo  our  heads, luitil  an  abrupt 
turn  in  the  course  of  the  ravine  placed  a  jjrotecting 
clilV  between  us  and  the  gale.  We  were  completely 
encaved. 

''Just  as  we  had  brought  in  the  last  boat,  the  Eed 
Eric,  and  were  .^boring  her  up  with  blocks  of  ice,  a 
lonu:-uuheard  but  familiar  and  unml.stakal)le  .sound 
startled  and  gladdened  our  ears,  and  a  flock  of  ciders! 
flecking  the  sky  for  a  nu)ment  passed  swiftly  in  front 
of  U.S.  We  knew  that  we  must  be  at  their  breeding- 
grounds  ;  and  as  we  turned  in  wet  and  hunyrrv  to  our 
long  coveted  sleep,  it  was  onl}'  to  dream  of  eggs  and 
abundance. 

"On  the  3d  of  July,  the  wind  l)egan  to  moderate, 
though  the  snow  still  fell  heavily;  and  the  next  uu)rn- 
ing,  after  a  patriotic  egg-nog,  the  lic^uor  bormwed 
grudgingly  from  our  alcoliol-llask,  and  dilufed  till  it 
was  worthy  of  temperance  pi';iise, — we  lowered  our 
boats,  and  bade  a  grateful  farewell  to  '  Weary  Man's 


m 


.1 


'  i 


ii\ 


W*' 


i   M 


■,V*' 


I' 

i!i 


in 


"*   1* 


f 


lit 


'1 


«i'!l 
&"' 


wm 


N' 


i 


i 


'I 

n 


626 


THE     K  S  g  U  1  M  A  U  X     E  I)  E  N  , 


Rest.'  We  rowed  1o  the  southeast  end  of  Wostcn- 
holnie  Island  ;  but  the  tide  h»ft  us  there,  and  we  moved 
to  the  ice-foot. 

"  Our  descent  to  the  coast  followed  the  margin  of  the 
fast  ice.  After  passing  the  Crimson  CUfF  of  Sir  John 
Ross,  it  wore  almost  the  dress  of  a  holiday  excursion, 
— a  rude  one  perhaps,  but  truly  one  in  feeling.  Our 
courf.  ^,  except  where  a  protruding  glacier  interfered 
with  it,  was  nearly  paralhl  to  the  shore.  The  birds 
along  it  were  rejoicing  in  the  young  summer,  and 
when  we  halted  it  was  upon  some  green-clothed  cape 
near  a  stream  of  water  from  the  ice-field  above.  Our 
sportsmen  would  clamber  up  the  cliffs  and  come  l)ack 
laden  with  little  auks;  great  generous  fires  of  turf, 
that  cost  nothing  but  the  toil  of  gathering,  bla/ed 
merrily ;  and  our  happy  oarsmen,  after  a  long  day's 
work,  made  easy  by  the  promise  ahead,  woidd  stretch 
themselves  in  the  sunshine  and  dream  happily  iiway 
till  called  to  the  morning  wash  and  prayers.  We  en- 
joyed it  the  more,  for  we  all  of  us  knew  that  it  could 
not  last. 

"ff*  *  •IF  "n"  "F  V 

"  I  was  awakened  one  evening  from  a  weary  sleep 
in  my  fox-skins,  to  discover  that  we  had  fairly  lost  our 
way.  The  officer  at  the  helm  of  the  leading  boat, 
misled  by  the  irregular  shape  of  a  large  iceberg  that 
crossed  his  trade,  had  lost  the  nuiin  lead  some  time 
before,  and  was  steering  shoreward  Air  out  of  the  true 
course.  The  little  canal  in  which  he  had  locked  us 
was  hardly  two  boats'-lengths  across,  and  lost  itself  not 
far  oif  in  a  feeble  zigzag  both  behind  and  before  us: 
it  was  evidently  closing,  and  we  could  not  retreat. 

"  Without  apprising  the  men  of  our  misadventure,! 
ordered  the  boats  hauled  up,  and,  under  pretciuu  of 


Wostcn- 
re  moved 

!;in  of  the 
Sir  John 


jxciirsion, 
ng.     Our 
interfered 
riie  birds 
iimer,  and 
thed  cape 
ove.     Our 
M)nie  l)ack 
!S  of  turf, 
ing,  hla/.ed 
[onjji;  day's 
dd  stretch 
ipily  away 
We  en- 
at  it  could 

* 

[eary  sleep 
\\\  lost  our 
iding'  l)oat, 
cberg  that 
I  some  time 
.f  the  true 
locked  us 
itself  not 
before  us: 
|e  treat. 
Iventure,! 
rctciice  of 


m  > 


l:^«''    f'i    \ 


i 
I  i    * 


li'. 


ff 


II' 


mr 


I 


;j-;r'^  '■■   :  t:f 


I 


LOST    AMONG     BERGS. 


629 


drying  the  clothing  and  stores,  made  a  camp  on  the 
ice.  A  few  hours  after,  the  weather  cleared  enough 
for  the  first  time  to  allow  a  view  of  the  distance,  and 
McGary  and  myself  climbed  a  berg  some  three  hundred 
feet  high  for  the  purpose.  It  was  truly  fearful :  we 
were  deep  in  the  recesses  of  the  bay,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  stupendous  icebergs  and  tangled  floe-pieces. 
My  sturdy  second  officer,  not  naturally  impres.sible,  and 
lonn;  accustomed  to  the  vicissitudes  of  whalinj?  life, 
shed  tears  at  the  prospect.  There  was  but  one  thing 
to  be  done :  cost  what  it  might,  wo  must  harness  our 
sledges  again  and  retrace  our  way  to  the  westward. 


"  Thinars  frrew  worse  and  worse  with  us :  the  old 
difLcjulty  of  breathing  came  back  again,  and  our  feet 
swelled  to  such  an  extent  that  we  were  obliged  to  cut 
open  our  canvas  boots. 

"  It  must  be  remembered  that  we  were  now  in  the 
open  bay,  in  the  full  line  of  the  great  ice-drift  to  the 
Atlantic,  and  in  boats  so  frail  and  unseaworthy  as  to 
require  constant  bailing  to  keep  them  afloat. 

"  It  was  at  this  crisis  of  our  fortunes  that  we  saw  a 
laru:e  seal  floating — as  is  the  custom  of  these  animals 
— on  a  small  patch  of  ico,  and  seemingly  asleep.  It 
was  an  ussuk,  and  so  large  that  I  at  first  mistook  it 
for  a  walrus.  Signal  was  made  for  the  Hope  to  follow 
astern,  and,  trembling  with  anxiety,  we  prepared  to 
crawl  down  upon  him. 

"  Petersen,  with  the  large  English  rifle,  was  stationed 
in  the  bow,  and  stoekinijrs  were  drawn  over  the  oars 
as  mufflers.  As  we  noared  the  animal,  our  excitemont 
became  so  intense  that  the  men  could  hardly  keep 
stroke.  I  had  a  sot  of  signals  for  such  occasions 
which  spared  us  the  noise  of  the  voice ;  and  when 


5     .5 


p 


'i:A. 


"':  i- 


<vm 


: ',   i'' 


1  *• 


r  ,,*     i 


\M.. 


<v 


630 


THE    SEAL.    THE    SEAL 


about  three  hundred  yards  off,  the  oars  were  takc;p  in, 
and  we  moved  on  in  deep  silence  with  a  single  scull 
astern. 

"  He  was  not  asleep,  for  he  reared  his  head  when  we 
were  almost  within  rifle-shot ;  and  to  this  day  I  can 
remember  the  hard,  careworn,  almost  despairing  ex- 
pression of  the  men's  thin  faces  as  they  saw  him 
move  :  their  lives  depended  on  his  capture. 

"  I  depressed  my  hand  nervously,  as  a  signal  for 
Petersen  to  fire.  McGaiy  hung  upon  his  oar,  and  the 
boat  slowly  but  noiselessly  sagging  ahead,  seemed  to 
me  within  certain  range.  Looking  at  Petersen  I  saw 
that  the  poor  fellow  was  paralyzed  by  his  anxiety, 
trying  vainly  to  obtain  a  rest  for  his  gun  against  the 
cut-water  of  the  boat.  The  seal  rose  on  his  fore-flip- 
pers, gazed  at  us  for  a  moment  with  frightened  curi- 
osity, and  coiled  himself  for  a  plunge.  At  that  in. 
stant,  simultaneously  with  the  crack  of  our  rifle,  he 
relaxed  his  long  length  on  the  ice,  and,  at  the  very 
brink  of  the  water,  his  head  fell  helpless  to  one  side. 

"  I  would  have  ordered  another  shot,  but  no  disci 
pline  could  have  controlled  the  men.  With  a  wild 
yell,  each  vociferating  according  to  his  own  impulse, 
they  urged  both  boats  upon  the  floes.  A  crowd  of 
hands  seized  the  seal  and  bore  him  up  to  safer  ice. 
The  men  seemed  half  crazv :  I  had  not  realized  how 
much  we  were  reduced  by  absolute  famine.  They  ran 
over  the  floe,  crying  and  laughing  and  brandishing 
their  knives.  It  was  not  five  minutes  before  every 
man  was  sucking  his  bloody  fingers  or  mouthing  long 
strips  of  raw  blubber. 

"  This  was  our  last  experience  of  the  disagreeable 
effects  of  hunger.     In  the  words  of  George  Stephen- 


son, 


'  The  charm  was  broken,  and  the  dogs  were  safe.' 


TERRA     FIR  MA! 


631 


The  dogs  I  have  said  little  about,  for  none  of  us 
liked  to  think  of  them.  The  poor  creatures  Toodla 
and  Whitey  had  been  taken  with  us  as  last  resources 
against  starvation.  They  were,  as  McGary  worded  it, 
' meat  on  the  hoof,'  and  •' able  to  cany  their  own  fat 
over  the  floes.'  Once,  near  Weary  Man's  Rest,  I  had 
been  on  the  point  of  killing  them  ;  but  they  had  been 
the  leaders  of  the  winter's  team,  and  we  could  not 
bear  the  sacrifice. 

"'Terra  firma  !  Terra  firma  !'  How  very  pleasant  it 
was  to  look  upon,  aud  with  what  a  tingle  of  excited 
thankfulness  we  drew  near  it !  A  little  time  to  seek  a 
cove  among  the  wrinkled  hills,  a  little  time  to  ex- 
change congratulations,  and  then  our  battered  boats 
were  hauled  high  and  dry  upon  the  rocks,  and  our 
party,  with  hearts  full  of  our  deliverance,  lay  down 
to  rest. 

"  Thus  it  was  that  at  one  of  our  sleeping-halts  upon 
the  rocks — for  we  still  adhered  to  the  old  routine — 
Petersen  awoke  me  with  a  story.  He  had  just  seen 
and  recognized  a  native,  who,  in  his  frail  1:nyak,  was 
evidently  seeking  eider-down  among  the  islands.  The 
man  had  once  been  an  inmate  of  his  family.  '  Paul 
Zacharias,  don't  you  know  me?  Pm  Carl  Petersen!' 
•  No,'  said  the  man  ;  '  his  wife  says  he's  dead ;'  and, 
with  a  stolid  expression  of  wonder,  he  stared  for  a 
moment  at  the  long  beard  that  loomed  at  him  through 
the  fog,  and  paddled  away  with  all  the  energy  of 
fright. 

"  Two  days  after  this,  a  mist  had  settled  down  upon 
the  islands  which  embayed  us,  and  ^^  hen  it  lifted  we 
found  ourselves  rowing,  in  lazy  time,  under  the  shadow 
of  Karkamoot.  Just  then  a  familiar  sound  came  to 
us  over  the  water.      We  had  often  listened  to  the 


'If    f   • 


;i;t 


ff* )  m 


1  ill  ^ 


,  I', 


11 


;^'\ 


.-'Hl^ 


^'i ' 


632 


D  A  -\  N  E  M  A  R  K  E  R  8 


>'\ 


screeching  of  the  gulls  or  the  bark  of  the  fox,  and 
mistaken  it  for  the  'Iluk'of  the  Esquimaux;  but 
this  had  about  it  an  inflection  not  to  be  mistaken,  for 
it  died  away  in  the  familiar  cadence  of  a  'halloo.' 

"'Listen,  Petersen  I  oars,  men!'  'What  is  it?' — 
and  he  listened  quietly  at  first,  aud  then,  trembling, 
said,  in  a  half  whisper,  'DannemarkersI' 

"  I  remember  this,  the  first  tone  of  Christian  voice 
which  had  greeted  our  return  to  the  world.  How  we 
all  stood  up  and  peered  into  the  distant  nooks ;  and 
how  the  cry  came  to  us  again,  just  as,  having  seen 
nothing,  we  were  doubting  whether  the  whole  was 
not  a  dream ;  and  then  how,  with  long  sweeps,  the 
white  ash  cracking  under  the  spring  of  the  rowers, 
we  stood  for  the  cape  that  the  sound  proceeded  from, 
and  how  nervously  we  scanned  the  green  spots  which 
our  experience,  grown  now  into  instinct,  told  us  would 
be  the  likely  caniping-grouud  of  wayfarers. 

"  B^'-and-by — for  we  must  have  been  pulling  a  good 
half  hour — the  single  mast  of  a  small  shallop  showed 
itself;  and  Petersen,  who  had  been  very  quiet  and 
grave,  burst  out  into  an  incoherent  fit  of  crying,  only 
relieved  by  broken  exclamations  of  mingled  Danish 
and  English.  *  'Tis  the  Upernavik  oil-boat !  The 
Frauleiii  Flaischer  I  Carlie  Mossyn,  the  assistant  cooperj 
must  be  on  his  road  to  Kingatok  for  blubber.  The 
Mariano  (the  one  annual  ship)  has  come,  and  Garlic 
Mossyn '  and  here  he  did  it  all  over  again,  gulp- 
ing down  his  words  and  w^ringing  his  hands. 

"  It  was  Carlie  Mossyn,  sure  enough.  The  quiet 
routine  of  a  Danish  settlement  is  the  same  year  after 
year,  and  Petersen  had  hit  upon  the  exact  state  of 
*  things.  The  Marine  was  at  Proven,  and  Carlie  Mos- 
syn had  come  up  in  the  Fraulein  Flaischer  to  get  the 
year's  supply  of  blubber  from  Kingatok. 


^i  I  isl 


fox,  and 
,ux ;  but 
taken,  for 
illoo.' 

;  is  itr— 

trembling, 


stian  voice 
How  we 
lOoks;  and 
iving  seen 
whole  was 
sweeps,  the 
the  rowers, 
3eded  from, 
>pots  which 
d  us  would 

iling  a  good 
jlop  showed 
quiet  and 
Irving,  only 
led  Danish 
loat!      The 
;ant  coopei-' 
.ber.     The 
and  Garlic 
gain,  gulp- 

ItIic    quiet 

,'ear  after 

ict  state  of 

ICarlie  Mos- 

to  get  the 


■  i  <* 


.v-m 


fwn 


.    V 


ir  h 


iM*' jlil 


N 


CAPE   WF.I.COME. 


OUH    FIR8T    KAYAK. 


AT    THE    SET  T  L  K  M  E  N  T. 


G33 


■..'.Ik 


"  Ilero  we  first  got  our  cloudy  vague  idea  of  wliat 
had  passed  in  the  big  worhl  during  our  absence.  The 
friction  of  its  fierce  rotation  had  not  much  disturbed 
this  little  outpost  of  civilization,  and  we  thought  it  a 
sort  of  blunder  as  he  told  us  tliat  France  and  England 
were  leagued  with  the  Mussulman  against  tlio  Crrook 
Church.  He  was  a  good  Lutheran,  this  assistant 
cooper,  and  all  news  with  him  had  a  theological  com- 
plexion. 

'" '  What  of  America  ?  eh,  Petersen  ? ' — and  we  all 
looked,  waiting  for  him  to  inteqirct  the  answer. 

" '  America  ? '  said  Carlie  ;  '  we  don't  know  much  of 
that  country  here,  for  they  have  no  whalers  on  the 
coast ;  but  a  steamer  and  a  barque  passed  up  a  fort- 
night ago,  and  have  gone  out  into  the  ice  to  seek  your 
party. 

"  How  gently  all  the  lore  of  this  man  oozed  out  of 
him !  he  seemed  an  oracle,  as,  with  hot-tingling  fin- 
gers pressed  against  the  gunwale  of  the  boat,  we 
listened  to  his  words.  '  Sebastopol  ain't  taken.' 
Wiiere  and  what  was  Sebastopol  ? 

"  But '  Sir  John  Franklin  ? '  There  we  were  at  home 
again, — our  own  delusive  little  specialty  rose  upper- 
most. Franklin's  party,  or  traces  of  the  dead  which 
represented  it,  had  been  found  nearly  a  thousand  miles 
to  the  south  of  where  we  had  been  searching  for  them, 
lie  knew  it ;  for  the  priest  (Pastor  Kraag)  had  a  Ger- 
man newspaper  which  toVl  all  about  it.  And  so  we  'out 
oars'  again  and  rowed  into  the  fogs. 

"  Another  sleeping-halt  has  passed,  and  we  have  all 
washed  clean  at  the  fresh-water  basins  and  furbished 
up  our  ragged  furs  and  woolens.  Kasarsoak,  the  snow 
top  of  Sanderson's  Hope,  shows  itself  above  the  mists 
and  we  hear  the  yelling  of  the  dogs.    Petersen  had 


:Mi 


'I'lj  A 


..'LfilsSi 


r 


lilp 


634 


THE    WELCOME. 


been  foreman  of  the  settlement,  and  he  calls  my  at- 
tention, with  a  sort  of  pride,  to  the  tolling  of  the 
workmen's  bell.  It  is  six  o'clock.  We  are  nearing 
the  end  of  our  trials.     Cjin  it  be  a  dream  ? 

"  We  hugged  the  land  by  the  big  harbor,  turnoil  the 
corner  by  the  old  brew-house,  and,  in  the  midst  of  a 
crowd  of  children,  hauled  our  boats  for  the  last  time 
upon  the  rocks. 

"  For  eighty-four  days  we  had  lived  in  the  open  air. 
Our  habits  Avere  hard  and  weather-worn.  We  could 
not  remain  within  the  four  walls  of  a  house  without 
a  distressing  sense  of  sufibcnticn.  But  we  drank 
coffee  that  night  before  many  a  hospitable  threshold 
and  listened  again  and  again  to  the  hymn  of  wel- 
come, which,  sung  by  many  voices,  greeted  our  deliv- 
erance." 

"  On  the  16th  we  left  Upernavik  in  the  Mariana, 
a  stanch  but  antiquated  little  barque,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  Ammondson,  who  promised  to  drop 
us  at  the  Shetland  Islands.  Our  little  boat,  the  Faith, 
which  was  regarded  by  all  of  us  as  a  precious  relic, 
took  passage  along  with  us.  Except  the  furs  on  our 
backs  and  the  documents  that  recorded  our  labors  and 
our  trials,  it  was  all  we  brought  back  of  the  Advance 
and  her  fortunes." 


THE  FAITH. 


is  my  at- 
g  of  the 
!  uearlng 

urnotl  the 
nidst  of  a 
;  hist  tune 

)  open  air. 

We  could 

se  without 

we   dvank 

threshold^ 

mn  of  wel- 

d  our  deliv- 


f  r« 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
THE  IIARTSTENE  RELIEF  EXPEDITION. 

An  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Dr.  Kane  and  his 
party,  commanded  by  Lieut.  Henry  J.  Ilartsteue,  sailed 
from  Ne>v  York,  May  31st,  1805,  i)recisely  two  years 
after  the  departure  of  the  Advance  from  the  same 
port.  It  "vvas  sent  out  Ly  authority  of  Congress,  and 
consisted  of  two  vessels,  the  l)ark  Release  and  ])ro])eller 
Arctic,  which  penetrated  nortliAvard  as  far  as  l*]tah, 
where  the  searchers  met  some  of  Dr.  Kane's  Es(piiuiaux 
friends,  including  the  "elfin  youth  "  and  "  stern  walrus 
hunter  "  Myoidc. 

Dr.  John  K.  Kane,  a  younger  brother  of  the  exjdorer, 
accompanied  the  expedition,  and  prepared  a  grajdiic 
and  si)irited  sketch  thereof,  ^^•llicll  was  pid>lished  in 
Pufnani's  3Iagazine  for  May,  185G,  from  Avhich  the 
following  extracts  are  taken  : — 

"Myouk  was  very  quick  in  understanding  us,  and 
equally  ready  in  inventing  modes  of  conveying  intelli- 
gence. Lead-pencil  and  ])aper  were  called  into  re<(uisi- 
tion.  I  took  out  my  note-l)Ook,  dre-w  a  rough  sketch 
of  a  brig,  and  showed  it  to  him.  He  at  once  said 
'Dokto  Kayen,'  and  pointed  to  the  north,  I  then  drew 
a  reversed  sketch,  and  pointed  south.  But  INIyouk, 
shaking  his  head,  began  to  sway  his  body  backward 
and  for^vard,  to  imitate  rowing ;  then  said  Dokto 
36  635 


;tl 


illit 


jV.,.  I  i 


1^ 


ll'i'  J''' t'l 

'{ii 

rfliil 


v:T'M 


636 


NAKUATIVK    OF    JOHN    K.    KANJi 


Kayen  ncjain,  and  pointed  Hoiitli.  On  tliis,  I  drew 
ji  whole  <l(H^t  of  ])oats,  and  invited  lilni  to  point  out 
liow  many  of  tliese  he  I'efeiicd  to.  lie  to()k  the  pencil 
from  my  hand,  and  altered  thesternsof  two  into  sluirp- 
pointed  ones,  and  then  hehl  n])  two  fini^erH,  to  indicate 
that  tliere  were  two  of  such.  I  now  di'(»w  eai-efnlly  two 
whale-boats  ;  lie  made  signs  of  approval,  as  nuicli  as  to 
say  that  was  the  thing;  and,  incontinently  scjuattiiiL; 
down,  imitated  the  voice  and  gestnres  of  a  dog-driver, 
cracking  an  imaginary  wliip,  and  crying  lin|)-linitliuj). 
at  the  top  of  liis  voice.  After  which  jiei-formance  lie 
laughed  immoderately,  and,  again  pointing  south,  said 
Dokto  Kaven. 

"  I  was  not  certain  as  to  his  meaninu: ;  hut,  on  mv 
drawing  a  picture  of  a  dog-team,  he  went  through  the 
whole  ])ei'f()rmance  afresh,  and  sliowed  the  most  extrav- 
aidant  sio;ns  of  delio-ht  at  beincj  mulerstood.  We  found 
out  how  many  dog-sledges  and  how  many  men  there 
were  of  the  doctor's  party,  in  the  same  manner.  We 
examined  several  other  natives  separately,  and  they  all 
told  the  same  story;  nor  could  we  confuse  them  as  to 
the  number  of  men  and  boats  ;  they  were  all  clear  on 
that  head.  Nineteen,  they  made  it,  neither  more  nor 
less.  We  tried  our  best  to  make  them  say  that  the 
boats  had  gone  north,  and  the  vessel  south  ;  but  with- 
out success.  Myouk,  on  one  occasion,  being  hai'd 
pressed,  stopped  his  ears,  so  as,  at  least,  to  secure  him- 
self from  being  supposed  to  assent  to  wliat  he  had  not 
learning  or  language  enough  to  conti'overt. 

"  At  length,  a  l)right  thought  struck  him.  Ib^  ran 
down  to  the  beach,  and  got  two  ^vhite  stones ;  laid 
them  on  the  ground,  and,  pointing  to  the  floating 
masses  of  ice  in  the  bay,  signified  to  us  that  these  rep- 
resented the  ice.     Next,  he  took  a  common  clay  pipe 


rki 


Ml  l'  !  iC  1 


h  11 


NAUUATlVi:    or    .KUIN    K.    KAXK. 


(;;;7 


)\it,  on  my 
uost  t'xivav- 

I'  men  tliere 
ivunev.     ^>  ^' 
uul  tliey  all 
tlioiu  as  to 
uU  clear  oi\ 
ler  more  nor 
ay  tliat  the 

'i;  l)Ut\vitll- 

p  si'ciive  liim- 
^tlieliiuliiot 

tt. 

lin.    11^  i"';" 

;tones;  laW 
tlie  floating 

luat  these  rep- 
,11  clay  PP« 


of  Mr.  LovelVs,  and,  point liii,'  to  tlic  nortli,  said,  voniiuk 
soo.'ik,  or  l)ii,'  sliij),  'voniiak  nooak,  Dokto  Kay*Mi/    IIo 
next  j)nslu'(l  \\w  pip*'  up  l)et\vet'n  the  ju'hhlcs,  .-ind  llu'ii 
prt'SMcd  them  together  till  tlie  pipe  wasci'uslu'd.  I^astiy, 
lie  pointed  to  th('sont]i,aMd  bej^an  imitatlnii;  tlie  row  iiii^ 
of  a  boat,  th((  erackiiiii;  of  wliips,  and  tlic  hiip-linppiiig 
ora(l()<^-driver,vo('ireratiiiu:,  at  intervals,  'I)okto  KaNcn, 
lie  !  he  !  he  !'     We  tried  our  best  to  find  out  how  long 
it  had  been  since  the  Dokto  Kayens  had   left   thcin, 
for  it  was  evident  that  this  was  their  name  for   the 
Avliolo  party  ;  but  we  could  not  make  them  undci'stand. 
They  would   only  tell  us  that  their  guests  had   been 
Avitli  them  for  some  time.     This  they  <lid  by  j)()inting 
to  the  south,  and  then  following  the  track  of  the  sun 
till  it  reached  the  north;  then   after  stretching  them- 
selves out  on  the  ground   and  closing  their  eyes  as  if 
ill  sleej),  they  would  again  j.'oint  to  the  south,  rise  uj), 
go  down  to  the  lake  and  ])retend  to  wash  tlieii*  faces. 
"We  had  drifted  so  far  to  the  south  that  Fiievely  was 
nearer  than  llpernavik,  and  Captain  Hartstene  deter- 
mined to  put  in  there.     It  cleared  away  beautifully 
towards  morning,  and  Ave  Avere  all  on  the  decks,  ad- 
miring the  clear  water  and  the  fantastic  shajjcs  of  the 
water-washed  icebergs.    All  hands  were  in  high  spii-its, 
the  fjale  liad  blown  in  the  ri<rht  direction,  and   in   a 
few  hours  we  should  be  in  Lievely.     The  I'ocks  of 
its  land-locked  harbor  were  already  in  sight.     AVe  Avere 
discussing  our  neAvs  by  anticijnition  Avhen  the  man   in 
the  croAv''s  nest  cried  out,  "  A  bi-ig  in  the  harboi' !"  and 
the  next  minute,  before  Ave  had  time  to  congratulate 
each  other  on  the  chance  of  sending  letters  home,  that 
she  had  hoisted  American  colors — a  delicate  com])li- 
meiit,  we  thought,  on  the  part  of  our  friends,   the 
Danes. 


I !'...!  > 


638 


NARRATIVE    OF   JOHN    K.    KANE. 


"  I  believe  our  captain  was  about  to  return  it;  when 
to  our  suq^rise,  she  hoisted  another  flag,  the  verital)le 
one  which  liad  gone  out  with  the  Advance,  beaiiiui" 
the  name  of  Mr.  Henry  Grinnell.  At  tlie  same  moment 
two  boats  were  seen  rounding  the  point,  and  j)ulliiio- 
to\vard8  us.  Did  they  contain  our  lost  friends  'i  Yes ; 
the  sailors  had  settled  that,  '  Those  are  Yankees,  sir ; 
no  Danes  ever  featherdll  their  oars  that  way,'  said  au 
old  A\  haler  to  me. 

"  For  tho^'j  who  had  friends  among  the  missiiio; 
party,  the  fe^v  minutes  that  folloANed  were  of  bitter 
anxietv  :  for  the  men  in  the  boats  ^vere  loiiij-bearded 
and  weather-beaten ;  they  had  strange,  wild  costumes ; 
there  was  no  possibility  of  recognition.  Dr.  Kane, 
standing  upright  in  the  stern  of  the  first  boat,  with  his 
si)y -glass  slung  round  his  neck,  Avas  the  first  identified ; 
then  the  big  form  of  Mr.  Bi-ooks  ;  in  another  moment 
all  hands  of  them  Avere  on  board  of  us. 

"  It  Avas  curious  to  Avatcli  the  effects  of  the  excite- 
ment in  different  people, — the  intense  quietude  of  some 
the  boisterous  delight  of  others  ;  Iionv  one  man  Avoiild 
become  intensely  loquacious,  another  would  do  nothing 
but  laugh,  and  a  third  Avould  creep  away  to  some  out- 
of-the-wav  corner,  as  if  he  were  afraid  of  shoAving  how 
he  felt.  IIoAV  hungry  they  all  Avere  for  ncAVs,  and 
hoAv  eagerly  they  tore  open  the  home  letters :  most  of 
them,  poor  fellows,  had  pleasant  tidings,  and  all  Avere 
pi'epared  to  make  the  best  of  bad  ones.  We  Avere  in 
the  harbor,  Avith  a  fleet  of  kayaks  dancing  in  Avek-oDic 
around  and  behind  us,  before  the  ijreetinfrs  Avere  half 
ended,  for  they  repeated  themselves  over  and  over 
again. 

"Our  old  friend,  Mr.   Olrik,   AA'as  Avith  the  now 
comers,  and  as  happy  as  the  rest.     His  hospitality, 


NARRATIVE    OF    JOllX    K.    KAJSK. 


639 


wlien  we  readied  the  shore,  Avtis  absolutely  boundless; 
and  his  liouse  and  table  were  always  at  our  service. 
Altogether,  I  never  passed  three  more  delightful  days 
tlian  those  last  days  at  Lievely.  Balls  every  night ; 
feasts  and  junketings  every  day  ;  and,  pleasantest  of 
all,  tliose  dear  home-like  tea-tables,  with  shining  tea- 
urn  and  clear,  white  sugar,  round  which  we  sat,  Avait- 
iiiii  for  the  water  to  boil,  and  talking:  of  Russia  and 
die  C-^zar,  and  the  world  outside  the  Circle  ;  while 
Mrs.  Olrik  would  look  up  from  her  worsted-Avork,  and 
the  chiklren  pressed  round  me  to  see  the  horses  and 
(logs  I  Avas  drawing  for  them.  It  was  enough  to  make 
one  forget  his  red  flannel  shirt  and  rough  Arctic  rig  ; 
Melville  Bay  and  the  pack  seemed  fables. 

"  But  our  stay  in  Lievely  ended.  The  propeller  got 
up  steam,  and,  taking  our  bark  and  the  Danish  brig 
Marianne  in  tow,  steamed  out  of  the  harboi*.  All  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  were  on  the  shore  to  see  the 
last  of  lis.  Our  visit  had  been  as  memoralde  an  in- 
cident to  them  as  to  ourselves.  Where  ten  dollars  is 
a  large  marriage  dower.  Jack's  liberality  of  expendi- 
ture seemed  absolutely  royal.  There  Avei'e  moistened 
eyes  among  them,  for  they  are  essentially  kind-hearted  ; 
and  even  the  roar  of  our  cannon,  in  answer  to  the 
Danish  salute,  though  it  resounded  splendidly  among 
the  Jiills,  was  scarcely  heeded,  as  they  stood,  with 
folded  arms,  watching  us  disappear  iu  the  distance." 


ua 


fc  I'.  !*t 


mv 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
FRANKLIN'S  FATE  DISCOVERED. 

The  fall  of  1854  witnessed  the  return  of  the  last  of 
all  the  expeditions  which  had  been  sent  from  England 
to  search  for  Franklin.  The  task  had  been  a  long  and 
disheartening  one;  for  with  the  exception  of  the  dis- 
covery in  1850,  of  Franklin's  winter-quarters  in  1845- 
40  under  Beechey  Island,  no  clue  to  the  whereabouts 
of  his  ships  or  party  had  been  found.  Six  years  of 
search  had,  however,  made  known  the  entire  geog- 
raphy of  the  regions  of  Arctic  America,  and  witli  the 
exception  of  a  small  portion  around  King  AVilliam's 
Land,  every  coast  and  harbor  had  been  examined. 
The  unsearched  ground  would  have  been  more  easily 
accessible  to  the  various  expeditions  than  many  of 
the  more  remote  regions  visited  by  them  ;  but  by  a 
strange  fatality,  all  the  explorers  turned  back  short  of 
the  goal,  because  they  found  no  cairn,  no  trace,  no 
record  to  induce  them  to  push  on  towards  it. 

But  hardly  had  men  declared  the  solution   of  the 

fate  of  the  lost  exjxHlition   a  hopeless  task,  Avhen,  in 

October   1854,   from   the  shores  of  Prince    Regent's 

Inlet,  api)eared  a  traveler.  Dr.   Rae,  bringing  (•(tuclu- 

sive  proofs  that  the  unsearched  region  was  the  scene 

of  the  disasters  A\hicli  overwhelmed  Franklin  and  his 

men.     Dr.  Rae,  in  his  land  expedition  of  1853-4,  met 

641 


i  f 


:^!li 


lis'f 


642 


DR.    RAE'S   DISCOVERIES. 


at  Pelly  Bay,  on  the  ITtli  of  May  1854,  a  party  of 
Esquimaux  who  had  in  their  possession  articles  Avhieh 
he  identified  as  having  belonged  to  Franklin's  party. 
The  following  is  Dr.  Rae's  account  of  the  informa- 
tion which  he  obtained  from  these  Esquimaux  : — 

"In  the  spring,  four  seasons  back,  1850,  about  forty 
'white  men,'  were  seen  traveling  southward  over  tlie  ice 
and  dragging  a  boat  with  them,  by  some  Esquimaux,  who 
were  killing  seals  near  the  north  shore  of  King  William's 
Land,  which  is  a  large  island.  None  of  the  party  could 
speak  the  Esquimaux  language  intelligibly,  but  by  signs  the 
natives  were  made  to  understand  that  their  ship,  or  ships, 
had  been  crushed  by  the  ice,  and  that  they  were  now  going 
to  where  they  expected  to  find  deer  to  shoot.  From  the 
appearance  of  the  men,  all  of  whom  except  one  officer  looked 
thin,  they  were  then  supposed  to  be  getting  short  of  provis- 
ions, and  purchased  a  small  seal  from  the  natives.  At  a  later 
date  the  same  season,  but  previous  to  the  breaking  up  of  the 
ice,  the  bodies  of  some  thirty  persons  Avere  discovered  on  the 
continent,  and  five  on  an  island  near  it,  about  a  long  day's 
journey  to  the  N.  AV.  of  a  large  stream,  which  can  be  no 
other  than  Back's  Great  Fish  Iliver,  as  its  description  and 
that  of  the  low  shore  in  the  neighborhood  of  Point  Ogle  and 
Montreal  Island,  agree  exactly  with  that  of  Sir  George  Back. 
Some  of  the  bodies  had  been  buried,  (probably  those  of  the 
first  victims  of  famine,)  some  were  in  a  tent  or  tents,  others 
under  the  boat,  which  had  been  turned  over  to  form  a  shelter, 
and  several  lay  scattered  about  in  different  directions.  Of 
those  found  on  the  island,  one  was  supposed  to  have  been  an 
officer,  as  he  had  a  telescope  strapped  over  his  shoulders,  and 
his  double-barrelled  gun  lay  underneath  him. 

"  From  the  mutilated  state  of  many  of  the  corpses,  and 
the  contents  of  the  kettles,  it  is  evident  that  our  wretched 
countrymen  had  been  driven  to  the  last  resource — cannibal- 
ism— as  a  means  of  prolonging  existence. 

"  There  appeared  to  have  been  an  abundant  stock  of  ammu- 
nition, as  the  powder  was  emptied  in  a  heap  on  tlie  ground 
by  the  natives  out  of  the  kegs  or  cases  containing  it ;  and  a 


ANDERSON  S    EXPEDITION. 


643 


..<'!';■:  ■  I 


quantity  of  ball  and  shot  was  found  below  high-water  mark, 
having  probably  been  left  on  the  ice  close  to  the  beach. 
There  must  have  been  a  nuniber  of  watches,  compasses,  tele- 
scopes, guns,  (several  double-barrelled,)  &c.,  all  of  which 
appear  to  have  been  broken  up,  as  I  saw  pieces  of  those  dif- 
ferent articles  with  the  Esquimaux,  together  with  some  sil- 
ver spoons  and  forks.  I  purchased  as  many  as  I  could  get. 
A  list  of  the  most  important  of  these  1  enclose,  witli  u  rt)Ugh 
sketch  of  the  crests  and  initials  on  the  forks  aiul  s])oons. 

"None  of  the  Esquimaux  with  whom  J  conversed  had  seen 
the  '  whites,'  nor  had  tliey  ever  been  at  the  place  where  the 
bodies  were  found,  but  had  their  intbrmation  from  those  who 
had  been  there,  and  who  had  seen  tlie  party  when  traveling." 

The  next  season,  1855,  Mr.  Anderson,  an  ollicor  of 
the  Ilndsoirs  Bay  Coni[)any,  descended  the  Fish  River  • 
but,  althoug'h  traces  wei-e  found  to  prove  tliat  some 
portions  of  the  crews  of  the  Erebus  and  Terror  had 
actually  landed  on  the  banks  of  that  river,  and  traces 
of  them  existed  up  as  far  as  Franklin's  Rapids,  no 
additional  intbrmation  was  obtained  by  the  party. 

In  18oG,  Lady  Franklin  petitioned  the  Government 
to  make  a  final  effort  to  find  the  lost  ships,  and  sug- 
gested that  the  Resolute,  which  had  recently  been  pre- 
sented Ivy  the  United  States,  might  be  devoted  to  the 
purpose.  A  memorial  to  the  same  effect,  signed  by 
the  leading  scientific  men,  explorers  and  naval  officers 
of  England,  accompanied  the  petition.  It  was  not 
until  April  1857  tliat  the  decisive  answer  was  given, 
that  after  so  many  fiiilures,  the  Government  did  not 
feel  justified  in  sending  out  more  brave  men  to  encoun- 
ter fresh  dangers  in  a  cause  which  was  viewed  as  hope- 
less. 

Lady  Franklin  now  determined  to  send  out  another 
private  expedition,  and  for  that  purpose  purchased 
and  refitted  the  steam  yacht  Fox.   Capt.  F.  S.  McClin- 


J'^;.|  I 


1 


-■■■I  f':T 


644 


THE    FOX    EXPEDITION. 


took,  who  had  seen  much  service  in  the  frozen  reahn, 
willingly  accepted,  without  pay,  the  command,  lie  had 
experienced  officers  and  a  crew  of  twenty-one  gallant 
men.  Carl  Petersen,  a  Dane  who  had  served  with  Pen- 
ny and  Kane,  hastened  from  his  home  at  Co}>enlia- 
gen,  where  he  had  been  oidy  six  days  after  an  absence  of 
a  year,  to  join  the  expedition  as  interpreter.  Various 
circumstances  combined  to  retard  the  departure  of 
the  Fox,  and  it  was  not  till  July  1857  that  she  left 
the  slK)res  of  merry  England  behind  her  and  started 
on  j(  "  long  and  perilous  voyage. 

Mi  iville  Bay  was  reached  about  the  middle  of  Aii- 
o:ust.  Here  the  Fox  was  beset  by  the  ice  and  frozen 
lU,  i'  :d  w.'t.';  (lot  released  until  the  next  April.  Mean- 
time she  had  di  ii'ted  in  the  midst  of  a  slow-marcliincr 
pack  which  e\'er  rolls  from  the  Pole  to  the  Eipuitor, 
a  distance  of  twelve  hundred  miles  to  the  south.  Start- 
ing northward  again  on  the  7th  of  May,  from  llol- 
steinberg,  Greenland,  the  Fox  reached  Beechey  Island 
by  the  middle  of  August.  Here  McClintock  set  up  a 
marble  tablet  to  the  memory  of  the  lost  explorers. 
This  monument  had  1)een  constructed  in  New  York 
City  at  the  recpiest  of  Lady  Franklin,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  Grinnell,  and  was  taken  to  Greenland  by 
the  Hartstein  Expedition,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
erected  at  Beechey  Island.  But  as  Lieut.  Hartstein 
did  not  visit  that  locality  the  tablet  Avas  left  at  God- 
havn,  and  there  found  by  McClintock,  who  carried  it 
to  its  destination.  It  was  placed  upon  the  raised 
flagged  square,  in  the  centre  of  which  stands  the  cen- 
otaph recording  the  names  of  those  who  perished  in 
Belcher's  Expedition,  and  near  a  small  tablet  wliicli 
had  been  erected  to  tlie  memory  of  Bellot.  The 
inscription  was  as  follows  : — 


FRANKLINS    MONUMENT. 
TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 

FRANKLIN, 
CROZIER,  FITZJAMES, 

AM)    AI.I,  TIIKIU 

OAr.LANT  UUOTllK.ll    OFllCERH  AND  FAITnyUL 

COMPANIONS  WHO  IIAVK  Sl'KFKUKI)  AND  PERISHID 

IN  THE  CAUSE  OV  SCIENCE  AND 

THE  SERVICE  OK  TIIEIU  COUNTRY. 

THIS  TABLET 

IS  EllECTED  NEAR  THE  SPOT  WHERE 

THEY  PASSED  THKIU  FIRST  ARCTIC 

WINTER,  AN!)  WllKNCK  TIIKY    ISSUED 

FORTH  TO  CONQUER  DIFFICULTIES  OR 

TO    DIE. 

IT  COMMEMORATES  THE  GRIEF  OF  THEIR 

ADMIRINO  COUNTRYMEN   AND  FRIENDS, 

AND  THE  ANOCISH,  SUBDUED  RY  FAITH, 

OF  HER  WHO  HAS  LOST,   IN  THE  HEROIC 

LEADER  OF  THE  E.YPEDITION,  THE  MOST. 

DEVOTED  AND  AFFECTIO.NATE  OF 

IIUSUANDS. 

*'  AND  SO  HE  URINGETH  them  tINTO  THE 
HAVEN  WHERE  THEY  WOULD  BE." 
1855. 


645 


This  Stone  has  been  entrusted  to  be  iifRxod  in  its  placo  by  the  Ollieers  and 
Crew  of  the  American  Expedition,  commanded  by  Lieut.  II.  J.  Ilartstein,  ia 
search  of  Dr.  Kane  and  liis  companions. 

This  Tablet  havin>^  been  loft  at  Di.«cobythe 
American  Expedition,  which  was  unalih-  to 
reach  Becchey  Island,  in  1855,  was  put  on 
board  the  Discovery  Yaclit  Fox,  and  is  nnw 
set  up  li(!re  by  Captain  McClintock,  H.  X., 
comniandiiif;  the  finiil  expedition  of  search 
for  ascertainiufr  the  fate  of  Sir  John  Franklin 
and  his  companions,  1858. 

After  replenisliing  his  stock  of  provisions  from  the 
stores  Ifeft  l)y  tlie  previous  expedition,  McClintoek 
pushed  on,  and  turning  into  Peel  Sound  on  the  west 
side  of  Somerset,  was  brought  up,  August  17th,  hy 
fixed  ice  at  a  point  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Cape 
Walker.  Bafiled,  Imt  not  disheartened,  he  imme- 
diately retraced  his  steps,  and  passing  down  Prince 


i 


■I  I 

M 


^W^' 


1"'   ^.  Bml,  ~      -J    'B'--  :  '21. 


II 


m 


I  I 


i. 


f 


646 


WINTER    IN   BELLOT   STRAIT. 


Regent's  Inlet,  arrived  on  the  20th  at  the  eastern 
entrance  of  Ballot  Strait. 

The  scene  in  tliat  t^trait  was  enough  to  daunt  men 
less  acciistomed  to  such  dangers.  On  either  side  were 
precipitous  walls  of  granite,  topped  by  mountains 
cov(;red  with  snow,  while  to  and  fro,  in  the  space 
between  them,  the  ice  was  grinding  and  churning 
under  the  influence  of  a  fierce  tide.  Like  a  terrier  at 
a  rat-hole,  the  staunch  Fox  waited  for  an  opportunity 
to  run  the  gauntlet  through  this  strait  into  the  Avestern 
sea  wliicli  led  to  King  William's  Land.  On  the  Gth 
of  September  they  succeeded  in  reaching  the  western 
entrance  to  the  strait,  l)ut  Avere  then  stopped  by  a 
belt  of  ice  which  stretched  across  the  path  and  was 
held  fast  by  a  gi'oup  of  small  islands. 

The  winter  of  1858-9  now  set  in,  and  all  hope  of 
reaching  the  oj^en  water  had  to  be  abandoned,  althougli 
it  was  separated  from  the  Fox  only  by  an  ice-field  six 
miles  wide.  Here  Avas  passed  an  xmusually  cold  and 
stormy  Avinter ;  and  the  resources  of  Boothia  yielded 
them  in  fresh  food  only  eight  reindeer,  two  bears,  and 
eighteen  seals.  Li  February,  seA'eral  sledge  parties 
were  sent  out  in  different  directions;  McClintock, 
Avho  Avent  southerly,  met  forty-fiA^e  Esquimaux,  and 
during  a  sojourn  of  four  days  among  them  learned 
that  "  seA'eral  years  ago  a  ship  was  crushed  by  the 
ice  off  the  north  shore  of  King  William's  Land ;  that 
her  people  landed  and  AA'ent  away  to  the  Great  Fish 
River,  Avhere  they  died."  These  natives  had  a  quan- 
tity of  wood  from  a  boat  left  by  the  "  starving  white 
men  "  on  the  Great  River. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  Captain  McClintock,  Captain 
Young,  and  Lieutenant  Hobson,  each  with  two  sledges, 
started  from  the  Fox  to  search  for  the  lost  ships. 


TIDINGS    OF    THE    EXPEDITION. 


647 


Young  went  westerly  to  Prince  of  Wales  Land  and 
made  a  long  journey.  McClintock  and  Ilobsoii  went 
together  as  far  as  the  Magnetic  Pole,  and  on  the  way 
there,  learned  from  some  natives  that  the  second  ves- 
sel had  been  drifted  on  shore  by  the  ice  in  the  fall  of 
the  same  year  when  the  other  ship  was  crushed. 

Leaving  Ilobson  to  search  the  west  coast  of  King 
William's  Land,  McClintock  ^vith  Petersen  undertook 
to  go  down  the  east  side  thereof,  direct  to  the  Fish 
River.  On  his  way  thither,  he  met  a  party  of  Esqui- 
maux who  had  been,  in  1857,  at  the  wreck  spoken  of 
by  their  countrymen,  and  who  had  numerous  articles 
taken  therefrom.  An  intelliixent  old  woman  said  it 
was  in  the  foil  of  the  year  that  the  ship  was  forced 
on  shore ;  that  the  starving  white  men  had  fallen  on 
their  way  to  the  Great  River,  and  that  their  bodies 
were  fonnd  by  her  countrymen  in  the  following 
winter.  She  said  that  on  board  the  wrecked  ship 
there  was  one  dead  white  man,  and  there  had  been 
many  books  as  well  as  other  things ;  but  all  had  been 
taken  away,  or  destroyed,  when  she  was  last  at  the 
wreck.  The  destruction  of  one  ship  and  the  wreck 
of  the  other  appeared,  so  far  as  McClintock  could 
ascertain,  to  have  occuri-ed  after  their  abandonment. 
No  Esquimaux  that  were  met  had  ever  before  seen 
a  living  white  man. 

After  meeting  this  party,  ]\rcClintock  pushed  on  to 
Montreal  Island,  in  the  estuary  of  the  Great  Fish 
River ;  but  he  found  nothing  more  than  Anderson  had 
reported ;  and  in  a  careful  search  of  the  shores  about 
Point  Ogle,  and  Barrow  Island,  he  was  (Mjually  unsuc- 
cessful. Returnino;  to  Kino;  William's  Land  he  now 
struck  along  its  south-western  shores,  in  the  hope  of 
discovering  the  wreck  spoken  of  by  the  natives ;  but 


(     ; 


:\i 


ui 


111 


■.":'fc;i!fl 


li''  i 


648 


McCLINTOCK  S    DISCOVERIES. 


coukl  see  no  sigiiiH  thereof.  When  ten  miles  south  of 
Cape  Ilerscliel,  he  oanie  iij)()n  a  liuumn  skeleton 
around  whieh  were  fragnienis  ol*  Kurojiean  el(^thin(^ 
It  lay  exactly  as  the  i'aniislied  seamen  wen^  said  to 
have  fallen,  with  its  head  toward  Fish  River  niul  its 
face  to  the  ground.  At  Cape  llerseliel,  MeClintoek 
visited  the  eaii'u  whieh  Simpson  had  erected  in  1813!) 
and  hoped  to  find  therein  some  leeoi'd ;  l)ut  the  eairii 
had  evidently  Leeu  overhauh'd  and  plundered  by 
Esquimaux,  and  the  record,  if  tliere  ha<l  been  any, 
carried  olF, 

In  the  meantime  II(d)son  had  made  more  import- 
ant discoveries.  After  sej)arating  from  IMcClintock 
near  the  Magnetic  Pole  on  the  2Sth  of  April,  he 
proceeded  to  Cape;  Felix,  the  most  northern  jjoiiit  of 
King  William's  Land.  Here  was  found  a  lai'ge  cairu 
and  three  tents,  with  clothes,  l)hinkets  and  other 
ai-ticles,  but  no  records.  Two  smaller  cairns  wei-e 
found  along  tlie  coast,  but  they  contained  nothing  of 
mucli  im])ortance. 

On  the  Gtli  of  May  Ilobson  ivached  Point  Victory 
— so  named  by  Sir  James  lloss  who  visited  it  in  1830. 
It  is  on  the  western  coast  of  King  William's  Land, 
some  forty  miles  south  of  Cajjc  Felix.  Here  Avas  a 
large  cairn  ;  and  among  some  loose  stones  which  had 
fallen  from  its  top  was  found  a  tin  case  enclosing  a 
record  which  gave  the  first  authentic  information  as 
to  the  fate  of  the  lost  expedition.  This  important 
document  was  one  of  those  blanks  furnished  to  explor- 
ing ships  by  the  British  Admiralty  for  the  j^iii'pose 
of  being  thrown  overboard  at  sea  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  set  of  the  current,  etc.,  on  which  is  printed  in  six 
languages  a  request  that  the  finder  will  note  time  and 
place  where  it  was  found,  and   forward   it   to  the 


nitli  of 
voli'tou 
othiiig. 
said  to 
and  its 
'lintoc'k 
n  18;V.), 
lie  ctiini 
sred  by 
on  any, 

import- 
Clintock 
ipi'il,  lie 
point  of 
ro-e  cairn 
id  other 
ns  -were 
)tliing  of 

Victory 
in  1830. 
fs  Land, 
ln>  ^vas  a 
liicli  liad 
llosing  a 
iation  as 
liportant 
oxplor- 
I  purpose 
ascertain 
Id  in  six 
lime  and 
to  tlie 


RKMCS    OK    THK    LOST    KXI'I.OIIKHS. 


H.  ) 


iiilrii  i 

Itl.  drill,     .il:  A     < 


Hi!  ''^^' 


. .  .1 1( 


'V'_. 


DlHCOTEnY    OF    KRANKMN'R    CAIRN. 


Till-:    CAIUN    AT   POINT    VICTORY. 


045) 


nearest  British  consul.  WjittiMi  on  this  paper  were 
two  distinct  records  made  at  diilerent  dates.  The 
fh'st  one,  occupying  the  blank  space  left  lor  such  a 
j)urpose,  was  as  follows  : — 

28tli  of  May,  j  II.  M.  Ships  Erohns  and  Terror  wintered  in 
1847.         ( the  ice  in  Lat.  70^  5'  Tn\     Lonj,'.  98^  23'  W. 

Having  wintered  in  181G-7  at  I'cecliey  Island,  in  Lat.  74® 
43'  28"  N.,  Long.  9P  39'  15"  \V.,  after  having  ascended 
Wellington  Channel  to  Lat.  77"  and  returned  l)y  the  west 
side  of  Cornwallis  Island. 

Sir  John  Franklin  commanding  the  expedition.     All  well. 

Party  consisting  of  2  ofKcers  and  0  men  left  the  ships  on 
Monday,  21th  of  May,  18i7. 


This  record  had  heen  -written  by  Lieut.  CJoiv,  sign- 
ed by  himself  and  Vauix,  and  left  by  them  while  on 
an  excursion,  at  a  point  four  miles  north  of  ^vhere  it 
was  ibund.  There  is  an  error  in  it  when  it  states 
that  the  winter  passed  at  iJeechey  Island  was  that  of 
184G-7.  It  should  be  1845-6,  as  the  other  dates 
plainly  show. 

Before  a  year  had  passed,  Graham  Gore  -was  dead, 
and  around  the  margin  of  the  ])aper  on  which  were 
his  words  of  hope  and  i)romise,  other  hands  had 
Avritten  the  following  : — 

April  25,  1848,  II.  M.  ships  Terror  and  Erebus  were  de- 
serted on  the  22d  April,  5  leagues  N.  IS'.  AV,  of  this,  hav- 
ing been  beset  since  12th  of  September,  184G.  The  offi- 
cers and  crews,  consisting  of  105  souls,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  F.  R.  M.  Crozier,  landed  here  in  Lat. 


."ill 


650 


CKOZIER  8   RECORD. 


69°  37/  42^',  Long.  98®  41'.  This  paper  was  found  by 
Lieut.  Irving,  under  the  cairn  supposed  to  have  been  built  by 
Sir  James  lioss  in  1831,  four  miles  to  the  northward,  wliere 
it  had  been  deposited  by  the  late  commander  Gore,  in  June, 
1847.  Sir  James  Ross'  pillar  has  not,  however,  been  found, 
and  the  paper  has  been  transferred  to  this  position,  which  is 
that  in  which  Sir  J.  Eoss'  pillar  was  erected.  Sir  Johiv 
Franklin  died  on  the  lltli  June,  1847,  and  the  total  loss 
by  deaths  in  the  expedition  has  been  to  this  date,  9  officers 
and  15  men. 


I 


(i/*io-ft-^ 


^Aii^JUo 


t^^^ 


Scattered  around  this  cairn  were  large  quantities 
of  clothing  and  articles  of  all  kinds,  as  if  these  men, 
aware  tliat  tliey  were  retreating  for  tlieir  lives,  had 
there  al)andoned  everything  Avhich  they-  considered 
superfluous. 

Continuing  his  search  down  the  western  coast, 
Lieut.  Ilohson,  when  in  lat.  69*^  9',  ahout  foi'ty  miles 
below  Point  Victory,  noticed  what  appeared  to  be 
two  posts  rising  above  the  snow.  On  examining 
them  closely,  he  found  that  they  were  the  aAviiing 
stanchions  of  a  buried  boat,  and  on  clearing  away  tlie 
snow,  found  in  it  that  which  filled  the  beholders  with 
awe — portions  of  two  human  skeletons.  One  lay  in 
the  Ijow  of  the  boat,  and  had  evidentl)'"  been  disturbed 
by  wolves  or  other  animals ;  the  other  was  enveloped 


A    BURIED    BOAT. 


GDI 


with  clothes  and  furs,  and  lay  near  the  stern.  Close 
beside  it  were  found  five  watches ;  and  two  double- 
barreled  guns — one  barrel  of  each  loaded  and  cocked 
— standing  muzzle  upwards  against  the  boat's  side, 
just  as  they  were  placed  eleven  years  previously. 

A  Bible  was  also  found,  and  a  few  religious  books, 
one  of  wdiich — "  Christian  Melodies  " — bore  on  its 
title  page  an  inscription  from  the  donor  to  G.  G., 
(Graham  Gore.).  There  was  also  a  large  quantity 
of  clothing,  an  abundance  of  ammunition,  some  tea, 
cliocolate  and  tobacco,  and  a  great  variety  of  articles 
which  modern  sledge-travelers  in  these  regions  would 
consider  a  useless  dead  weight.  Silver  spoons  and 
forks  were  also  found,  eight  of  which  bore  Franklin's 
crest,  and  otliers  the  initials  of  nine  of  his  officers. 
Fuel  was  at  hand  in  the  ,shai>e  of  a  drift-tree  lying 
near  by  on  the  beacli.  Nothing  in  the  shape  of 
records  or  journals  could  be  discovered. 

The  boat  was  twenty-eight  feet  long,  seven  and  a 
half  feet  wide,  and  was  mounted  on  a  heavy  oak 
sledge  which  was  headed  north.  McClintock,  who 
came  upon  this  boat  a  few  days  after  Ilobson  found 
it,  estimated  the  total  weio^ht  of  the  sleck^e  and  its 
load  at  1,400  lbs ;  and  is  of  opinion  that  it  was  drawn 
where  it  was  found  by  a  party  who  Avere  returning 
to  the  ship,  probably  for  provisions,  and  that 
they  were  unable  to  drag  it  any  further. 

From  Cape  Ilerschel  to  the  western  extremity  of 
King  AVilliam's  Land,  the  traces  of  th(!  natives  were 
so  numerous  as  to  have  completely  effaced  those  of  the 
unfortunate  castaways;  but  from  this  extreme  point 
to  Cape  Felix  the  beach  was  strewn  with  signs  of 
their  miserable  condition,  like  a  rocky  shore  after 
some  disasti'ous  wreck. 
37 


1    i 


||i|  I 


.iMlpI 


652 


RETUEX    OF  THE   FOX. 


By  the  1st  of  July  1859,  all  the  search-parties  had 
returned  to  the  Fox.  Tlie  homeward  voyage  was 
begun  on  the  9th  of  August,  and  ended  on  the  21st 
of  September.  Three  men  of  the  expedition  had  died 
from  disease  and  accident  during  its  absence  from 
England.  Numerous  memorials  of  the  lost  expedition 
were  brought  home,  some  of  which  have  been  de- 
scribed as  follows : — 

"  In  the  first  case  is  the  '  ensign '  of  one  of  the  ships,  re- 
duced almost  to  shreds,  but  still  preserving  its  colors,  and 
reminding  the  spectators  of  the  many  cheerless  days  upon 
which  it  must  have  fluttered  sadly,  but  still  proudly,  from 
the  mast  of  tlie  ice-bound  vessel.  In  a  corner  of  the  same 
case  is  also  a  thin  tin  cylinder,  stained  and  time-worn.  The 
casual  spectator  would  hardly  notice  it,  but  it  stands  first  in 
importance  of  all  that  has  been  recovered,  for  it  contains  the 
record  of  the  death  of  Sir  John  Franklin — that  happy  death 
which  saved  our  brave  veteran  all  the  subsequent  horrors  of 
the  journey  to  the  I'ish  River.  Further  on  are  the  rude 
spear-heads  into  which  the  Esquimaux  bad  fashioned  the  iron 
they  obtained  from  the  wreck;  and  a  box-wood  two-foot 
rule,  wliitened  with  exposure,  but  with  the  figures  on  it  all 
as  bright  as  the  first  day.  This  was,  of  course,  the  property 
of  the  carjienter,  who,  it  would  appear,  had,  even  when 
starting  on  his  dread  journey,  not  forgotten  the  implement  of 
his  trade.  In  the  same  case  is  a  relic  which  will  arrest  the 
eye  of  many  a  passcr-ln'.  It  is  the  remains  of  a  silk  neck- 
tie, including  the  bow,  as  carefully  and  elaborately  tied  as  if 
the  poor  wearer  had  been  making  a  wedding  toilette.  This. 
which  was  taken  from  the  neck  of  a  skeleton,  is  supposed  to 
have  belonged  to  the  ship's  steward. 

"  There  are  also  various  articles  of  plate,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  which  is  marked  with  Sir  John  Franklin's  device,  and 
two  pocket  chronometers  in  excellent  preservation.  A  small 
silver  watch,  maker's  name  'A.  Myers,  London,'  probably 
belonged  to  some  young  mate  or  midshipman  ;  and  a  worm- 
eaten  roll  of  paper,  upon  which  the  single  word  'Majesty' 


RELICS   OF   FRANKLIN. 


653 


remains,  was  possibly  the  much-prized  warrant  of  some  stout 
boatswain  or  quartermaster.  There  is  a  little  amethyst  seal, 
in  perfect  preservation,  and  goggles  and  snow-veils,  to  pro- 
tect the  eyes  from  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  the  polar  snow. 
Two  double-barrelled  guns,  covered  with  rust,  are  placed  far 
in  on  the  table.  They  still  contain  the  charges  which  were 
placed  in  them  by  hands  which  have  long  since  lost  their 
cunning.  The  books  recovered  are  very  few ;  they  would, 
of  course,  succumb  early  to  the  rigors  of  exposure, — but 
there  is  still  Avell  preserved  a  small  edition  of  the  '  Yicar  of 
Wakefield,'  some  religious  poetry,  and  a  French  Testament, 
on  the  fly-leaf  of  which  is  written,  in  a  delicate  female  hand, 
*  From  your  attached  (the  appellation  is  obliterated)  S.  M.  P.' 
The  open  inediclne-chest  contains  all  its  bottles  and  prepara- 
tions very  little  injured,  and  a  little  cooking  machine  has  the 
fuel  arranged,  the  sticks  thrust  through  the  bars  ready  for 
ignition,  and  lucifer  matches  at  the  side,  as  it  might  have 
been  prepared  over  night  for  the  morning  cooking.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  interest  and  importance  of 
all  these  simple  memorials  ;  they  tell  a  tale  that  will  find  its 
way  to  every  heart." 

Fi'om  the  meagre  information  obtained  by  the 
various  searchers  for  Franklin,  have  been  drawn  the 
outlines  of  a  connected  account  of  his  expedition 
and  its  fate.  The  Erebus  and  Terror  were  last  seen 
in  July  1845,  in  Baffin's  Bay.  (See  Chapter  XXII.) 
Passing  thence  into  Lancaster  Sound,  they  reached 
Beechey  Island  and  ascended  Wellington  Cliannel  to 
lat.  77^.  In  returning  southei'ly  they  sailed  around 
Cornwallis  Island,  and  under  the  friendly  shelter  of 
Beechey  Island  reposed  from  their  arduous  labors. 
The  Polar  winter  came  in  upon  them  like  a  giant. 
A  shroud  of  snow  enveloped  the  region,  save  where 
sharp  and  clear  against  the  hard  blue  sky  stood  out 
the  gaunt  mountain  precipices  of  North  Devon  and 
the  dark  and  frowning  cliffs  of  Beechey  Island — cliffs 
too  steep  for  even  snow-flakes  to  hang  upon. 


i      (».  '  1     f"M  *  ""  J,  S     a 


1'  i>A-'- 

,l6;  '..IS 


■  r,tf> 


654 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   EXPEDITION. 


The  tale  of  energetic  battle  with  cold,  privation, 
and  festering  monotony  has  l)een  often  told ;  why 
repeat  that  the  officers  and  men  under  Franklin  in 
their  first  Avinter  within  the  Frozen  Zone,  as  nobly 
bore  the  one  and  cheerfully  combatted  the  other? 
The  ruins  and  traces  left  behind  them  all  attest  it. 
The  observatory,  with  its  double  embankment  of 
earth  and  stones,  its  neat  finish,  and  the  lavish  expen- 
diture of  labor  in  pavement  and  pathway ;  the  shoot- 
ing gallery  under  the  cliff,  the  seats  formed  of  stones, 
the  remains  of  pleasant  picnics  in  empty  bottles  and 
meat-tins  strewed  about :  the  elaborate  cairn  upon 
the  north  point  of  Beechey — a  pyramid  eight  feet 
high,  and  at  least  six  feet  long  on  each  side  of  the 
base — constructed  of  old  meat-tins  filled  with  gravel ; 
all  tell  the  same  tale  of  manful  anxiety  for  physical 
employment  to  distract  the  mind  from  suffering  and 
solitude. 

But  at  length  darkness  and  winter  pass  away, 
sunlight  and  spring  return,  and  pale  faces  recover 
their  natural  hue.  The  graves  of  three  of  the  crew 
who  perished  during  the  long  night  are  paved  round 
by  their  messmates,  and  shells  from  the  bay  are 
arranged  above  them ;  while  Franklin  selects,  at  the 
request  of  his  men,  epitaphs  which  appeal  to  tbe 
hearts  of  all — "  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will 


serve,"  etc. 


The  sun  has  ceased  to  set,  night  is  as  the  day,  the 
snow  has  melted ;  the  yards  are  crossed,  rigging  set 
up,  sails  are  bent,  and  all  signs  indicate  that  the 
disruption  of  the  frozen  surface  of  the  sea  is  at  hand. 
The  day  of  release  arrives ;  the  cracks  which  radiate 
over  the  floes  gradually  widen,  then  close  again  with 
heavy  nips.     Presently  the  look-out  man  gives  a  sig- 


■^ 


y'f 


THE   STOKY    OF   THE    EXPEDITION. 


655 


nal  that  the  ice  is  in  motion.  A  loud  hurrah  wel- 
comes the  joyful  news — a  race  to  witness  the  break-up 
of  the  ice.  It  moves  indeed.  The  floe  heaves  an'T 
cracks,  now  presses  fearfully  in  one  direction  and 
now  in  another.  A  dull  moaning  is  heard  as  if  the 
very  ice  cried  for  mercy,  and  then,  with  a  sharp  report, 
the  mass  is  shivered  into  fragments.  Water  shows 
in  all  directions,  and  the  next  day  the  ships  are 
sawed  out,  sails  are  set,  and  a  cruise  to  the  westward 
begun. 

At  Cape  Walker  the  ships  come  to  anchor.  An 
impenetrable  ice-streain,  drifting  easterly  from  Parry's 
Sound,  renders  further  progress  in  that  direction 
impossible.  Southward  stretches  a  promising  chan- 
nel leading  direct  to  the  American  continent;  and 
down  this  channel — Peel  Sound — the  expedition 
bears  away.  On  the  eastern  hand  rise  the  steep 
black  cliffs  of  North  Somerset,  cut  here  and  there 
with  deep  cleft  and  snow-filled  ravine.  On  the  west- 
ern side,  the  sandstone  cliffs  and  the  sheltered  coves 
of  Prince  of  Wales'  Land,  have  donned  tlieir  brightest 
looks,  and  siren-like,  lure  the  discoverer,  by  many  an 
unexplored  bay  and  fiord,  to  delay  awhile  and  visit 
them.  It  may  not  be ;  the  Erebus  and  Terror  press 
on,  for  is  not  Cape  Herschel  of  King  William's  Land 
and  the  American  continent  ahead — are  they  not 
fast  nearing  it  ?  Once  there,  Avill  they  not  have  dis- 
covered the  long-sought  passage  ? 

Two  degrees  of  latitude  are  passed  over ;  the 
passage  contracts ;  for  awhile  it  looks  as  if  they  were 
in  a  cul-de-sac ;  islands  locked  in  with  one  another, 
excite  some  anxiety  for  a  channel.  The  two  ships 
are  close  to  each  other,  the  eager  ofliicers  and  men 
crowd  gunwale  and  tops.     Hepburn  Island  bars  the 


I  i 


f"  '11  Ik  »•  -1  a!  f 

iiii 


656 


TIIK    STORY    OK   THE    KXPEDITION'. 


P  i 


way;  thoy  round  it.  lliirrali,  Imrnili  !  the  path 
opens  before  them,  the  lands  on  eitlier  liand  recede, 
a  sea,  an  open  sea,  is  before  tlieni.  Tliey  dip  tlieii- 
ensiu^ns,  and  eheer  eaeli  other  in  friendly  eon<i|;ratida- 
tion  ;  joy,  joy!  another  one  liiuuh-ed  miles,  and  Kino- 
WillianTs  Island  will  rise  in  view.  Tlie  j)rize  is  now 
•within  their  j^rasp,  whatever  be  the  eost. 

The  saiK>r's  ])rayer  t'oi'  open  Avater  is,  however,  only 
granted  in  a  limited  sense,  for  when  the  eoast  of 
Prince  of  Wales'  Island  is  lost  to  vieAv,  and  they  are 
no  lonijer  shielded  by  land  to  the  Avest,  the  cfi'eat  ice- 
stream  from  IVIelville  Ishmd  ai::ain  falls  nj)on  it.  Tlio 
ships  j)ass  Bellot  Strait,  and  advance  down  the 
edii;e  of  that  ice-stream  as  far  as  latitU(U^  71'';  then 
they  must  enter  thc^  ]>ack  and  go  with  it  to  the  south- 
west. Had  tliey  not  already  ])asseil  OA^er  two  hun- 
dred of  the  thrct'  huncbcul  miles  between  Cape 
Walker  and  Ca])e  Ilerschel'!  Were  they  the  men  to 
■flinch  from  a  struu'Lch^  for  the  renuilninjj:  hundred 
miles? 

That  strui]^<xle  commenced  as  the  Avinter  closed  in, 
and  just  as  Kinti-  William's  Land  Avas  in  si<;ht  the 
Erebus  and  Terror  Avere  about  twelve  miles  north  of 
Cape  Felix.  jNIore  dangerous  and  nn[)romising  (piur- 
ters  could  hardly  have  fallen  to  their  lot.  Six- 
teen years  ])reviously  Ross  had  stood  upon  Cape  Felix 
in  the  month  of  jNIay,  and  observed  Avith  astonishment 
the  fearful  natui'e  of  the  oceanic  ice  Avhich  Avas 
pressed  upon  the  shores,  and  had  in  some  places  been 
driven  inward  half  a  mile. 
•  The  second  Avinter  })asses  aAvay  and  Avhen  May 
comes  in,  Gore  and  Vceux,  Avith  six  men,  leave  the 
Erebus  on  an  excursion  sontliAvard.  In  the  cairn 
built  by  Ross  at  Point  Victory  they  deposit  a  record, 


tli«   path 

(Up  tlioii' 

nnd  Kinj; 
ize  IS  now 

revev,  only 
eojiHt   of 
(1  tlioy  ai'o 
e  fifrcjit  ioo- 
)u'it.     TIU! 
down   the 
71^;  Ihcn 
)  the  sonth- 
1-  two  hun- 
ween    Cape 
the  men  to 
hundred 


<r 


II 


dosed  in, 

flight  the 
s  north  of 
ising  (juar- 

h)t.  Six- 
Cape  Felix 
tonishnient 

vhieh  was 


daces 


been 


tvhen   May 

leave  the 

the  cairn 

It  a  record, 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   EXPEDITION. 


659 


and  in  a  week  more  stand  on  Cape  Ilerschel ;  then, 
after  gazing  on  the  shores  of  America,  they  hasten 
back  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  that  tlie  ships  are 
really  in  the  direct  channel  leading  to  those  waters 
and  shores  traversed  by  Franklin  in  former  years, 
and  that  the  long-sought  passage  is  at  last  discovered. 

Alas  !  why  do  their  shipmates  meet  the  flushed 
travelers  with  sori'ow  imprinted  on  pale  countenances  ? 
Why,  as  they  cheer  at  the  glad  tidings  they  bring, 
does  the  tear  suffuse  the  eye  of  these  rough  and  hardy 
men  ?  Their  chief  lies  on  his  death-bed ;  a  long 
career  of  honor  and  of  worth  is  drawing  to  its  close. 
The  shojit  of  victory,  which  cheered  the  last  hours  of 
Nelson  and  of  Wolfe,  rang  not  less  heartily  roimd 
the  bed  of  the  gallant  Franklin,  and  lit  up  that  kind 
eye  with  its  last  gleam  of  triumph.  Like  another 
Moses,  he  fell  when  his  work  was  accomplished  with 
the  great  object  of  his  life  in  view. 

A  toll  for  the  brave — the  drooping  ensigns  of  Eng- 
land trail  only  half-mast ;  officers  and  men  with  sad 
faces  walk  lightly  as  if  they  feared  to  disturl)  the 
mortal  remains  of  him  they  love  so  much.  The  sol- 
emn peal  of  the  ship's  bell  reverberates  amongst  the 
masses  of  solid  ice;  a  group  of  affectionate  followers 
stand  around  a  huge  cha^m  in  the  ice,  and  Fitzjames 
reads  the  service  for  the  dead  over  the  grave  of  Frank- 
lin. 

The  summer  M'cars  away,  and  at  last  the  ice-stream 
again  moves  slowly  to  tlie  south.  Ten  miles,  twenty 
miles  thirty  miles  are  accomplished,  though  not  a  foot 
of  open  water  has  been  seen.  Then  the  new  ice 
begins  to  form,  the  drift  diminishes,  and  when  fifteen 
miles  north  of  Cape  Victory  and  only  ninety  miles 
from  the  continent  the  ships  are  again  stationary,  and 


.1 1 


id 


iB 


iPPP 


660 


THE   STOItY    OF    THE    EXPEDITION. 


the  winter  of  1847-48  closes  ftroimd  these  forlorn  and 
now  desperate  men. 

The  sun  of  1848  rises  again  upon  the  imprisoned 
exj)edition,  and  never  did  it  look  down  on  a  sadder 
sight.  Nine  officers  and  twelve  men  have  jierished 
during  the  past  winter ;  the  survivors  one  hundred 
and  five  in  number,  a  wan,  half-starved  ci'ew,  must 
leave  the  shi])S  and  escape  for  their  lives.  Sledges 
are  loaded  with  such  articles  as  they  sui)poso  may  he 
of  use.  Two  lai'ge  hoats  are  rigged  on  sledges,  and 
in  them  the  i^ick  and  disabled  are  placed.  Care  is 
taken  to  have  plenty  of  guns,  powder,  and  shot,  for 
provisions  are  scarce,  and  th(>y  hope  to  find  deer  in 
the  region  of  the  Great  Fish  River. 

On  the  22d  of  April,  1848,  the  men  fell  into  tlie 
drag-rojies  of  their  sledges  and  boats ;  the  colors  Avero 
hoisted  on  the  ships,  three  cheers  were  given,  and 
without  a  blush  at  deserting  the  Erebus  and  Terror, 
Crozier  and  Fitzjames  lead  the  Avay  to  the  nearest 
land  named  Cape  Victoiy.  It  took  three  days  to  travel 
these  fifteen  miles,  and  already  the  sad  conviction  was 
peeping  upon  them  that  they  had  over-estimated 
their  physical  strength.  Around  the  large  cairn  at 
Point  Victory  the  shivering  men  cast  away  every- 
thing that  could  be  spared.  Unrolling  the  record 
left  here  in  the  previous  year  by  Lieut.  Gore,  Fitz- 
James  wrote  around  its  margin  those  few  but  graphic 
words  which  tell  all  we  shall  ever  know  of  this  last 
page  in  their  history. 

In  spite  of  frost-bites  and  fatigue  the  party  presses 
on.  They  Tiiust  keep  moving  southward  or  their  \)yo- 
visions  will  l)e  gone  before  they  reach  the  continent. 
Day  by  day  they  grow  weaker  and  weaker  under  the 
toil  of  draerging  their  sledges  and  disabled  comrades 


THE    STOIIY    OF   THE    EXPEDITION. 


661 


tlii'oiigli  the  deep  snoAv  and  over  the  nigged  ice,  and 
at  last,  when  half  way  Lctweeii  Point  Victory  and 
Capti  Herschel  it  becomes  aj)parent  that  if  any  are  to 
he  saved  there  must  he  n  division  of  the  parties  and 
that  the  sick  and  weak  must  stay  hehind  or  return 
to  the  ships.  One  of  the  large  hoats  is  here  turned 
with  her  bow  northward,  some  stay  with  it,  and  all 
that  is  known  of  their  fate  is,  that  years  afterward 
the  boat  was  found  buried  in  the  snow  with  two 
skeletons  therein  ;  and  that  the  wandering  Esquimaux 
found  another  skeleton  in  one  of  the  ships. 

The  stronger  portion  of  the  divided  creAvs  pushed 
southward  and  reached  the  cairn  on  Cape  Herschel ; 
no  one  had  visited  it  since  it  was  erected  by  Dease 
and  Simpson  in  1889.  Ten  miles  further  on  at  least 
one  of  them  died, "  with  his  face  to  the  ground  and  his 
head  toward  Fish  River;"  and  little  else  is  known  of 
this  "  forlorn  hope "  than  the  information  collected 
from  the  Esquimaux  by  Dr.  Rae,  and  given  at  com- 
mencement of  this  chapter.  It  is  probable  that  the 
survivors,  under  Fitzjames,  pushed  on  to  perish  in  the 
wilds  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Terrltoiy.  Capt.  Hall, 
however,  after  visiting  King  William's  Land,  conclu- 
ded that  none  of  the  party  ever  reached  the  conti- 
nent. The  results  of  his  searches  for  Franklin  are 
giv(m  in  another  chapter. 

The  point  at  which  the  fatal  imprisonment  of  the 
Erebus  and  Terror  in  IS 40  took  j)lace,  was  only 
ninety  miles  fi'om  the  limit  reached  by  Dease  and 
Simpson.  Ninety  m'^es  more  of  open  water,  and 
Franklin  and  his  heroic  followers  would  not  only  have 
won  tl  ^>r  .e  for  which  they  had  so  bravely  strug- 
gled, but  have  gained  their  homes  to  enjoy  their  well- 
merited  honors.  Such,  however,  was  not  to  be  the  case. 


M('' 


662 


THE    8T0UY    OF   THE    EXPEDITION. 


"They  were  to  discover  the  great  high^vay  between 
the  Pat'ifie  and  the  Atlantic.  It  was  given  tliem  to 
win  for  tlieir  countiy  a  discovery  for  which  she  liad 
riskt^l  her  sons  and  hivishly  sjient  her  wealth  thi-ough 
many  centuries;  l)ut  they  were  to  die  in  accomplish- 
ing their  last  great  earthly  task;  and,  still  more 
strange,  but  for  the  energy  and  devotion  of  the  wife 
of  their  chief  and  leader,  it  Avould  in  all  i)rol)al)ility 
never  have  l)een  known,  that  they  wei'e,  indeed  the 
first  discoverei's  of  the  North-west  Passage."  The 
shores  along  which  they  tied  are  sacred  to  their  mem- 
ory, and  bear  the  names  of  Franklin,  Croziei',  Fltz- 
James,  Little,  Irving,  Gore,  Hodgson,  Fairholm,  and 
other  members  of  the  lost  expedition. 


hetweon 
tlieni  to 
slui  liad 

through 
•oriiplish- 
till  more 

tlio  Avifo 
()l))il>llity 
ileed  the 
rv.r  The 
lieir  mem- 
zler,  Fitz- 
lolm,  aud 


UBM 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
ARCTIC  SIBERIA  AND  ITS  EXPLORERS. 

SiKEHiA,  tlie  entire  northern  part  of  Asia,  was  for 
centuries  tlie  Lattle-field  of  the  Russians  auvl  Tartars, 
and  its  ex})loration  may  he  dated  from  tlie  period 
when  tlie  Russians  freed  themselves  from  the  yoke  of 
their  conquerors.  In  1580,  a  body  of  wanderino*  Cos- 
sacks, searching  for  saLle  furs,  crossed  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains, and  found  a  Tartar  kingdom  of  which  Sibir 
was  the  capital.  A  struggle  ensued,  the  Rtissian 
power  spread,  and  in  less  than  one  hundred  years  a 
few  Cossack  hunters  had,  by  their  exertions  and  the 
advantage  ■which  the  possession  of  fire-arms  gave 
them,  a(hled  to  Russia  a  territory  larger  in  extent 
than  all  Euro])e. 

Siberia  is  rich  in  mines,  fossil  ivory,  and  sable,  but 

it  is  chleily  noted  as  being  the  great  Russian  ])eiiiten- 

tiary,  to  Avliich   (;riniinals  and  all  who  have  fallen 

under  the  displeasure  of  the  government  are  banished. 

Many  a  wretched  exile,  the  victim  of  state  intrigues 

and   despotism,    has   Ium'c   dragged   out   a   miserable 

existence;    and  hundreds  of  uiiiiap]\y  Poles,  whose 

greatest    crime    was    a    devotion   to  their  oppi'cssed 

native  land,  have  been  perpetually  banished  to  these 

dreary  regions.     The  worst  criminals  are  sent  to  the 

mines;  the  other  exiles  are  furnished  with  small  farm- 

GC3 


.1,;  t \.i 


ill ;  ,;'! . 


W 


w 


^^  II 


II,  >■  '    , 


m 


li'l 

ii' 

II. 


ii^:HlllMlB',:<''1 


M'f%: 


!.-   P 


:  I'r 


I    i'iii'l  1 ; ' 

Wj  ',^"''i  '■¥■ 

j.v',v,.f '■-(  r 


i<l 


664 


SIBERIAN   EXILES. 


ing  outfits  and  left  to  their  own  resources.  They 
have  contributed  greatly  to  the  improvement  and 
civilization  of  the  country,  and  many  of  them  are 
contented,  happy,  and  even  wealthy  in  their  oompul- 
sorv  homes. 

The  discovery  of  the  shores  of  the  Polar  oeean,  from 
Bering's  Strait  w^esterly  toNovaZenihla  (145  degrees 
of  longitude)  is  due  to  the  Kussians.  Those  shores 
are,  perhaps,  the  most  desolate  on  the  whole  Arctic 
circle.  The  Siberian  rivers — the  Obi,  the  Yenisei,  the 
Lena,  the  Indigirka  a.id  Kolyma — rise  in  the  Altai 
mountains,  and  flow  in  their  u])per  courses,  through 
forests  of  tall  trees.  But,  before  they  reach  the  Polar 
ocean,  they  traverse  a  dreary  i-egion  of  frozen  s^^amp, 
■wliich  is  barely  habitable,  called  the  tundra.  Here 
the  land  is  frozen  for  many  feet  below  the  surface. 
The  rivers,  during  times  of  flood,  l)ring  down  vast 
quantities  of  uprooted  ti'eos,  which  line  their  banks 
in  immense  masses,  and  are  eventually  carried  into 
the  Polar  sea,  to  be  drifted  away  with  the  current 
wliich  flows  from  east  to  west  aloni;  the  Siberian 
coast. 

The  endeavors  of  the  Russians  to  double  the  extreme 
northern  ])oints  of  Siberia — Capes  Taimyr  and  Chel- 
yuskin, the  latter  in  77*^  30'  N., — have  hitherto 
been  unsuccessful.  The  Russians,  in  very  early  times, 
constantly  went  from  Archangel  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Obi,  creeping  along  between  the  land  and  ice  in  the  sea 
of  Kara,  and  usually  hauling  their  boats,  or  lodia.% 
across  the  isthmus  between  Kara  Bay  aud  the  Gulf  of 
the  Obi.  In  the  last  century  several  expeditions 
were  sent  bv  the  Russian  Government  in  the  same 
direction,  and  vessels  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Pyasina,  on  the  west  side  of  the  northern  point  of 


VOYAGE    OF   DKSIINEF. 


665 


(> 


Sil)eria,  and  tlie  Kliataiiga  on  the  oast  sido.     But  n 
navigator  has  ever  doubled  that  most  uortheru  cape 
of  the  Asiatic  continent. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Lena  eastward,  vessels  have 
fre(|m'ntly  reached  the  river  Kolyma,  l>ut  the  douhling 
of  the  capes  still  farther  east  has  l)een  attended  with 
great  difticiilty.  Nijni  Kolymsk,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Kolyma,  was  founded  in  1044,  hy  a  Cossack 
named  Michael  Staduchin  ;  and,  in  1648,  another  Cos- 
sack named  Simon  Deshnef  e<piipped  an  expedition 
there,  consisting  of  three  small  craft  which  were 
})road,  flatdiottomed,  decked  vessels,  about  seventy  feet 
long,  with  both  sails  and  oars.  He  rounde<l  Cape 
Chelagskoi,  passed  through  the  strait  aftci'wards 
named  after  Bering  the  explorer,  and  reached  the 
Gulf  of  Anadyj".  Most  of  his  men  died  of  hunger; 
but  Deshnef  himself  succeeded  in  establishing  a  Aval- 
rus  fishery  in  the  Anadyi*. 

Peter  the  Great  desired  that  the  whole  northern 
coast  of  Siberia  should  be  explored  by  sea,  and  he 
died  a  few  days  after  giving  his  instructions  to 
Caj)taiu  ^'itus  Bering  with  his  own  hand,  in  1725. 
Bering  was  a  Dane,  in  the  Russian  service.  lie  Avas 
desjxatclied  from  St.  Peters])urg  to  the  furthest  point 
of  Siberia  Avith  sailors  and  shipAvrights,  and  tAA'O 
vessels  Avere  built  at  Okhotsk  and  in  Kamchatk;),  the 
"  Gabriel"  and  the  "  Fortuna."  In  July,  17'2X,  h(;  sailed 
from  the  river  of  Kamchatka,  and  examined  th(;  coast 
for  some  distance  to  the  nortliAA'ard,  ascei-taining  the 
existence  of  a  strait  betAveen  Asia  and  AnuM'ica.  Tn 
September,  1740,  Bei'ing  sailed  again  from  Okhotsk, 
in  a  vessel  called  the  "St.  Paul,"  Avitli  another  in  com- 
pany, called  the  "  St.  Peter,"  commanded  by  Lieut. 
Chirikof.     George  W.  Steller  end)arkc<l  Avith  Bering 


i 


:h 


111,  '':f¥'^!i 


1:/' 


.!'• 


i" 


666 


BERING  S   DISCOVERIES. 


as  naturalist  of  the  expedition.     The  two  ships  sepa- 
rated soon  after  sailinc;  and  did  not  meet  asrain. 

In  June,  1741,  they  discovered  tlie  American  coast, 
and  that  magnificent  j)eak,  named  by  Bering  Mount  St. 
Elias.  The  Aleutian  Islands  were  explored,  but 
scurvy  l)roke  out  amongst  the  crews ;  Bering  also 
was  attacked  by  it,  and  in  November  his  ship  was 
wa'ccked  on  an  island  which  was  named  after  the  ill- 
fated  discoverer  himself,  who  was  carried  on  shore, 
and  placed  in  a  sort  of  pit  or  cavern  dug  in  the  side 
of  a  sand-hill.  Here  he  was  almost  buried  alive,  for 
the  sand  was  continually  rolling  down,  and  he 
requested  that  it  might  not  be  removed,  as  it  kept 
him  warm.  In  this  miserable  condition  poor  Bering 
died,  December  8th,  1741. 

Steller  was  naturally  anxious  to  procure  supjilies 
of  animal  food  for  his  scurvy-stricken  patients,  and 
he  carefully  examined  into  the  natural  history  of  the 
island.  lie  attributed  the  cure  of  those  Avho  i-ecov- 
ered,  to  the  flesh  of  the  sea-otter.  Thii'tv  of  the  crew 
died  on  the  island,  and  the  forty-five  survivors  escaped 
to  Kamchatka  in  a  little  vessel  built  fj-om  the  wreck 
of  the  "St.  Paul."  The  most  remarkable  and  inter- 
esting event  of  this  voj'age  was  the  discovery  by 
Steller  of  a  rare  and  solitary  species  of  manatee  or 
sea-cow,  called  Hf/ii/ta  Stelleres.  It  has  since  been 
hunted  and  prol)ably  exterminated,  for  no  specimen 
has  been  seen  for  more  than  seventy  years.  This 
creature  had  a  sor  of  bark  an  inch  thick,  composed 
of  fibi-es  or  tubes  perpendicular  on  the  skin,  and  so 
hard  that  steel  could  penetrate  it  with  difficulty.  It 
lived  on  sea-weed. 

In  1734,  Lieut.  Muravief  sailed  from  Archangel 
towards  the  river  Obi,  but  was  stopped  by  the  ice 


CHELYUSKIN  S   EXPLORATIONS. 


667 


in  the  sea  of  Kara.  In  1738,  however,  Lieut's.  Malgyn 
and  Shurakoff  doubled  the  promontory  with  great 
difficulty  and  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Obi.  The 
next  step  was  to  sail  from  the  Obi  to  the  Yenisei. 
This  was  effected  in  the  same  year  by  Lieut.  Koskelef. 
In  the  same  memorable  year  for  Siberian  exploration, 
the  pilot  Menin  sailed  from  the  Yenisei  towards  the 
Lena,  but  was  stopped  by  the  ice  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Pyasina,  and  returned  unsuccessful. 

Three  years  before,  in  1735,  Lieut.  Pronchislichef 
made  a  similar  attempt  from  the  eastern  side.  He 
sailed  down  the  Lena  from  Yakutsk,  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  but  was  hampered  l)y  ice,  whicli  only  left  a 
passage  of  two  hundred  yards  along  the  coast,  and 
was  at  last  obliged  to  winter  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Oleuek.  Tlie  following  year  he  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  Khatanga,  and  pushed  beyond  it,  })ut  found 
liimself  at  last  closely  beset  near  Cape  Chelyuskin,  his 
extreme  northern  point  being  77*  25'.  He  and  his 
wife  died  at  the  winter-quarters,  near  the  moutli  of  the 
Olenek,  and  the  command  devolved  upon  Lieut. 
Chelyuskin  who  returned.  In  May,  1740,  Lieut. 
Laptef  found  fixed  and  impenetrable  ice  in  the  same 
place,  and  returned  convinced  of  the  impossibility  of 
sailing  round  Cape  Taimyr.  But  in  1742,  Chelyuskin 
reached  the  northernmost  point  of  the  continent  in 
sledges,  in  latitude  77*^  34'  N.,  doubled  it,  and 
returned  to  the  mouth  of  tlie  Taimyr.  This  cape  is 
now  known  as  Cape  Chelyuskin. 

After  Bering's  Strait,  the  most  important  discov- 
ery of  the  Russians  during  the  last  century  was  that 
of  the  Islands  of  New  Siberia  in  the  Polar  ocean, 
opposite  the  coast  between  the  mouths  of  the  Lena 
and  Indigirka.     In  March,  1770,  a  merchant  named 


iMlH 


itif, 


C68 


THE   NEW    SIBERIA    ISLANDS. 


Liakhof  saw  a  large  herd  of  reindeer  coming  over  the 
ice  from  the  north,  which  induced  him  to  start  with 
sledges  early  in  April,  to  trace  the  tracks  they  had 
left.  After  a  journey  of  fifty  miles  over  the  ice,  he 
discovered  three  large  islands,  and  the  following  year 
obtained  the  exclusive  right  from  the  Empress  Cathe- 
rine to  dio;  for  mammoth  bones  on  them. 

Immense  alluvial  deposits,  filled  with  wood  and 
the  fossil  bones  of  animals,  are  found  throughout  the 
shores  of  Arctic  Siberia ;  but  in  the  cliffs  or  "  wood 
hills"  of  the  Ncav  Siberia  Islands  these  deposits  are 
still  more  plentiful.  For  years  after  their  first  dis- 
covery the  seekers  for  fossil  ivory  annually  resorted 
to  these  islands;  and,  in  1821,  the  fossil  ivory  thus 
procured  weighed  twenty  thousand  lbs.  Hedenstrom, 
a  Russian  officer,  residing  at  Yakutsk,  was  employed 
by  the  Government  to  survey  the  New  Siberia 
Islands  in  1809,  and  occupied  thi-ee  years  in  their 
exi")loration.  He  reported,  in  1810,  that,  to  the  north- 
ward of  these  islands  during  three  years,  he  "was 
always  stopped  at  a  short  distance  from  the  land  by 
weak  ice. 

In  March,  1821,  Lieut.Anjou,  afterwards  Admiral, 
went  across  the  ice  with  dog  sledges,  to  the  Kotelnoi 
Island.  He  then  ti'aveled  over  the  ice  to  the  north- 
ward in  April,  and  saw  vapor  rising  to  the  north-west 
when  at  a  distance  of  forty-two  miles  from  Kotelnoi 
(lat.  7C*  38'),  which  led  him  to  suppose  that  there 
was  open  water  in  that  direction.  But  Wrangell  tolls 
us  that  when  the  ice  cracks,  even  in  places  where  it 
is  thick  and  solid,  vaporization  immediately  ensues, 
which  is  more  or  less  dense  according  to  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  atmosphere. 

In  March,  1823,  Anjou  again  crossed  to  the  New 


ANJOU  S    TRAVELS. 


CG9 


:;*'ii<'  .-V 


Siberia  Islands.  Open  sea,  with  drifting  masses  of 
ice,  was  seen  on  the  20th,  the  ice  drifting  from  east 
to  west.  The  frequenters  of  the  islands  believe  this 
current  to  be  the  ebb  tide.  On  the  9th  of  April  he 
started  over  the  ice  to  the  eastward,  and  met  with 
thin  ice  on  the  14th,  at  a  distance  of  sixty  miles ;  but 
lines  of  impassable  hummocks  obliged  him  to  make 
for  the  mainland. 

Anjou  arrived  at  the  conviction  that  all  efforts  to 
advance  b}^  the  ice  to  any  considerable  distance  fi'om 
land  would  prove  unavailing,  owing  to  the  thinness 
of  the  ice  and  to  the  open  Avater  within  twenty  to 
thirty  miles  of  the  islands.  His  expedition,  however, 
effected  a  complete  survey  of  this  interesting  group. 
The  sea  between  the  islands  and  Siberia  is  not  com- 
pletely frozen  over  until  the  end  of  October,  and  the 
coasts  are  free  by  the  end  of  July.  Throughout  the 
summer  the  sea  is  covered  with  fields  of  ice,  drifting 
to  and  fro  with  winds  and  currents. 

While  Arijou  was  conducting  these  explorations, 
Wrangell  was  prosecuting  similar  researches  from  his 
head-quarters  at  Nijni  Kolymsk,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Kolyma,  to  reach  which  plac(;  he  had  traveled 
overland  from  St.  Peterslnirg,  a  distance  of  nearly 
five  thousand  miles.  On  the  "vvay  ho  ]>assed  through 
Yakutsk,  a  flourishing  city  of  four  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, situated  on  the  Lena  River,  and  a  commercial 
center  of  the  fur  and  ivory  trade.  Its  dwellings  con- 
sist chiefly  of  Yourts,  with  turf-covered  roofs,  doors  of 
skins,  and  windows  of  ice.  During  the  month  of 
January  the  thermometer  stands  on  an  average  of 
45®  below  zero.  Accordim?  to  Sir  Edward  Brewster, 
Y  akutsk  is  near  the  "  Asiatic  pole  of  cold,"  one  of 
the  two  coldest  points  on  the  globe. 
.       38 


'  i  '■'        i.i"; 


fifmt-.,  HI* 


i:j||ffl|(.    1^' 


.:       : 


670 


WRANGELL  S    EXPLORATIONS. 


Wrangell  made  four  journeys  on  the  Polar  Sea,  ac- 
complislietl  in  dog  sledges  called  narti.  The  runners 
are  of  birehwood,  and  the  upper  surface  of  the 
sledge  of  willow  shoots  woven  together.  All  the 
parts  are  fastened  together  with  hide  thongs.  When 
in  use  the  sletlges  are  turned  over,  and  water  is  poured 
on  the  runners  to  produce  a  thin  crust  of  ice,  which 
glides  easily  over  the  snow,  and  the  icy  runner  is 
called  wodiat.  As  spring  advances  it  of  course  be- 
comes useless,  and  whalebone  is  sometimes  substituted. 

Wrano-ell  considered  March  to  be  the  best  time  of 
the  year  for  sledging,  Avlien  it  is  easier  "svork  for  the 
dogs.  A  well-loaded  sledge  required  a  team  of  tAvelve 
dogs,  which  were  fed  on  frozen  herrings.  The  men 
wore  reindeer-skin  shirts,  great  leathern  boots  lined 
with  fur,  a  fur  cap,  and  reindeer-skin  gloves.  The 
party  had  a  conical  tv=^nt  of  reindeer-skin,  Avith  a  light 
framework  of  six  poles ;  and,  when  they  encamped, 
they  lighted  a  fire  in  the  centre  of  it,  and  were  half 
smothered.  Each  man  slept  on  a  bear-skin,  and  a 
reindeer-skin  coverlet  was  provided  for  every  two. 

In  his  first  journey,  during  March,  1820,  Wrangell 
explored  the  coast  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kolyma  to 
Cape  Chelagskoi.  His  second  journey  was  undertaken 
in  order  to  see  how  far  he  could  go  over  the  ice  to  the 
northward  away  from  the  Siberian  coast,  and  he 
started  March  '27th,  1821.  At  a  distance  of  two  miles 
from  the  shore,  the  party  had  to  cross  a  chain  of  high 
and  rugged  hummocks  five  miles  wide,  beyond  which 
there  was  an  extensive  plain  of  ice.  Wrangell  con- 
tinued to  advance  to  the  northward  for  a  distance  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  when  he  found  the  ice 
to  be  very  thin  and  weak,  owing  to  large  patches  of 
brine  that  were  lodged  on  the  snow.    There  were 


SKILL   OF   SIBERIAN   SLEDGE-DRIVERS. 


671 


cracks  in  every  direction,  through  wliich  the  sea-water 
came  up,  and  the  ice  was  scarcely  a  foot  thick.  It 
was  therefore  deemed  prudent  to  commence  a  retreat 
on  the  4tli  of  April. 

In  approaching  the  coast  again,  they  liad  to  cross 
ranges  of  hummocks  of  greenish-blue  colored  ice, 
often  eighty  and  ninety  feet  in  height,  denoting  tre- 
mendous pressure  during  the  winter.  Wrangell 
returned  to  Nijni  Kolymsk  April  28th,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  thirty-six  days,  during  which  time  he  had 
traveled  over  eight  hundred  miles.  He  was  much 
struck  during  this  journey  at  the  wonderful  skill  dis- 
played by  the  sledge-drivers  in  finding  their  way  by 
watching  the  wave-like  stripes  of  snow,  formed  b}"^ 
the  wind,  whicb  are  called  in  Silieria  Sastrugi.  The 
ridges  always  indicate  the  quarter  from  which  the 
prevailing  winds  blow.  The  inhabitants  of  the  tun- 
dras often  travel  over  several  hundred  miles  with  no 
other  guide  than  these  sasti'ugL  They  know  by 
experience  at  what  angle  they  must  cross  the  greater 
and  lesser  waves  of  snow,  in  order  to  arrive  at  their 
destination,  and  they  never  fail.  It  often  happens 
that  the  true,  permanent  sastrugi  have  been  obliter- 
ated by  others  produced  by  temporary  A^•inds ;  but  the 
traveler  is  not  deceived  thereby ;  his  practised  eye 
detects  the  change,  he  carefully  removes  the  recently 
drifted  snow,  and  corrects  his  course  by  the  lower 
sastrugi^  and  by  the  angle  formed  by  the  two. 

On  his  third  journey  Wrangell  started  northward, 
from  the  coast  March  IGth,  1822,  chiefly  with  the 
object  of  ascertaining  the  truth  of  a  native  report  that 
there  was  high  land  in  that  direction.  After  travel- 
ing for  many  days  over  very  difficult  hummocks,  the 
party  came  to  such  weak  ice,  broken  up  by  so  many 


'  i:\ 


.:  (il'i' 


liimiij  .^■''f 


iilllp'  [ 


IK.  '>' 


"M;:----; 


f • 


672 


•WRANGELL3    LAST   JOUnNKY. 


cracks,  that  Wrangell  supposed  tlio  open  soa  must  he. 
at  hand,  and  deemed  it  prudent  to  rctuin,  ^v•hen  one 
hundred  and  seventy  miles  from  the  land.  On  this 
journey  he  traveled  over  nine  liundred  miles. 

Wrangell's  fourth  and  last  journey  was  conunenced 
March  14th,  182;5,  and  Cape  Chelagskoi  was  reached 
on  the  18th,     A  Tuski  chief  here  informed  him  that, 
from  an  adjacent  part  of  the  coast,  on  a  clear  sum- 
mer's day,  snow-covered  mountains  might  he  descried 
at  a  great  distance  to  the  north,  and  that  herds  of 
reindeer  sometimes  came  across    the  ice  of  the  sea, 
pi'ol)al)ly  from  thence.     The  natives  concur  in  slating 
that  Capo  Jakan  is  the  nearest  point  to  this  northern 
land.     The   })arty   struck  off  across   the   ic(!  to  the 
northward  wlien  they  had  gone  a  little  heyond  Cape 
Cludagskoi ;  hut  a  violent  gale  of  wind  cracked  and 
broke  up  the  ice,  whicli  was  only  tliree  i'eet  thick, 
placing  them  in  considerahle  danger.     As  they  ad- 
vanced it  became  thinn^'r,  and  they  only  snccee<led  in 
crossing  the  cracks,  just  frozen  over,  in  safety,  owing 
to  the  incredibly  swift  running  of  the  dogs.     Wran. 
gell  was  obliged  to  turn  back  at  a  distance  of  seventy 
miles  from  the  land,  and   in  reaching  it  they  had  to 
ferry   themselves  across  many  cracks,  on  ])ieces  of  ice, 
the  dogs  swimming  and  towing.     To  tlie  west  the  sea 
appeared  completely  open,  with  floating  ice,  and  dark 
vapoi's  ascending  from  it  obscured  the  horizon.     Lanes 
of  Avater  were  opening  in  all  directions,  and,  Avithout 
a  boat,  the  little  party  was  placed  in  a  position  of 
extreme  danger.     A  gale  of  wind  dashed  the  pieces 
of  ice  against  each  other  with  a  loud,  crashing  noise, 
and  split  many  of  the  floes  into  fragments.     The  dogs 
saved  them.     They  dashed  wildly  and  swiftly  toAvards 
the  laud,  and  reached  it  on  the  27th. 


/ 


WKANOELL   LAND. 


C73 


,.,••!      ' 


Wrangell  ooutinutHl  the  const  snrv^ey  for  some  time 
longer,  and  returned  to  Nijni  Kolynisk  May  lOtli, 
niter  an  absence  of  seventy-eight  days,  having  traveled 
over  fifteen  hundred  and  thirty  miles.  Tims  ended 
the  series  of  attempts  to  reach  the  unknown  north- 
ern land,  Avhich,  though  not  seen  by  him,  Wrangell 
still  thinks  may  possibly  exist.  It  was  sighted  by 
(Japtain  Kellett,  and  afterwards,  in  18G7,  by  Caj)tain 
Long,  an  American  whaler,  wdio  approached  from 
Bering's  Strait ;  and  it  is  now  marked  on  the  mnps  as 
AVrangell  Land.  On  Wrangeirs  ma]>  it  is  stated 
that  the  mountains  are  visible,  from  Cape  Jakan,  in 
clear  summer  weather. 

Li  184J5,  Middendoif  ^vas  sent  to  explore  the 
regions  which  terminate  in  Cape  Taimyr,  by  land. 
He  descended  the  river  Khatanga,  and  I'eached  the 
Taimyr  lake  in  June.  Li  August  he  arrived  at  the 
shores  of  the  Polar  Sea,  and  sighted  Cape  Taimyr, 
whence  he  saw  open  water,  and  no  ice-blink  in  any 
direction.  lie  found  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide  to 
be  as  much  as  thirty-six  feet.  His  visit  was,  how- 
ever, in  the  verv  lieiuht  of  the  short  Arctic  summer. 

The  observations  of  Iledenstrom,  Anjou,  and  Wran- 
gell, have  led  Russian  geographers  to  the  conclusion 
that  there  is  a  part  of  the  Polar  ocean  always  an  open 
sea,  extending  from  some  twenty  uiiles  north  of  the 
New  Siberia  Islands  to  about  the  same  distance  off 
the  coast  of  the  continent  between  Cape  Chelagskol 
and  Cape  North.  This  o])iniou  rests  on  the  instances 
in  Avhicli  these  explorers,  in  March  and  Ai)ril, 
encountered  either  open  w^ater  covered  with  loose 
floes  or  very  tliin  ice,  indicative  of  its  immediate 
vicinity,  at  different  points  of  this  line.  Wrangell 
considered  that  the  fact  of  the  northerly  winds  being 


,Mf'-; 


;!i:.|?li. 


674 


THE    "GUIOAT    IirsSIAN    Tf>LYX[A." 


Kuffioiently  dmnp  to  wot  tliu  clotlicH  of  lils  party,  was  n 
further  corroboration  of  the  existence  of  an  open  sea  in 
that  direction.  In  summer,  the  current  ahmijf  tlu;  Silui. 
rian  coast  is  from  east  to  west,  and  in  autumn  from  west 
to  east.  On  the  hreakini:^  u])  of  tlui  ic(!  in  tlie  i^'reat 
Siherian  rivers  their  waters  lielp  to  drive  the  floes 
from  the  coast,  and  the  Avesterly  current  then  carries 
them  in  heavily-packed  masses  towards  tlie  Athuitic, 
and  millions  of  tons  of  ice  are  thus  sent  to  swell  the 
size  of  the  polar  pack,  and  are  annually  melted 
betvve(!n  Greenland  and  No\a  Zcmbla. 

Wrangell,  using  an  allowable  poetical  license,  1ms 
called  the  open  water  oiV  the  Siberian  coast  "the 
wi(l(Mmmeasural)le  ocean;"  and  ever  since  tlie  "givat 
Polynia  of  th(f  llussiaus"  lias  been  a  plirase  on  which 
geogi'a])hical  theorists  have  founded  the  Avildest  spec- 
ulations. Now,  in  all  parts  of  the  Arctic  regions 
the  ice  is  moi'c  or  less  in  motion  durini;  tlu^  summer, 
so  that  the  observaticm  of  open  watei' by  Middendoi-f, 
near  Cape  Taimyr  in  August,  is  nothing  remarkable. 

There  can  be  no  reason  to  doubt  that,  owinu'  to 
strong  curi'ents  and  gales  of  Avinds,  the  ice  is  in 
motion  of^*  the  coast  of  Siberia  very  early  in  the 
spring,  giving  rise  to  polynias,  or  lanes  and  pools 
of  water;  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  observations  of 
the  Kussiau  explorers  to  wari'ant  the  belief  in  a 
"wide  immeasurable  octtan."  The  rising  vapor,  so 
often  mentioned  l)y  Anjou,  is  caused  by  tidal  cracks 
in  the  ice,  and  is  no  j)i'oof  of  an  open  sea;  and  the 
phenomena  of  damj^  winds  and  rotten  ice  betoken 
just  Avhat  Anjou  saw — a  limited  expanse  of  sea, 
covered  Avith  drifting  floes.  There  is  no  evidence 
whatever  that  the  Siberian  Polynia  of  the  early  spring 
is  of  greater  extent  than  the  prevalence  of  gales  of 
wind  and  currents  Avould  easily  explain. 


AC  regions 


•niE   EXPLOHATION    OF   THE    YKXISEI. 


075 


Tlio  latest  Uiisslan  cNjdorliij^^  acliicvcnuMit  in 
SihtM'ia  lias  been  the  e.xamiiiatioii,  in  isOd,  of  the 
iiioiilh  of  the  Yenisei,  by  Ih'ir  Sehniidt,  made  in  eon. 
Hecjuenee  of  tli*'  allej^ed  diseoveiy  of  a  maninioth 
Hkelelon  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lower  Yenisei  River. 
An  interestinsj^  fact  in  conneetion  with  tliis  river,  is 
the  immense  ([nantity  of  dril't-wooci  lyiiiiL?  on  either 
side  of  its  l)anks.  Abont  tlu^  low  lands  of  the  est  nary 
the  wood  lies  s(;attered  abont,  and,  mixed  with  loam 
and  sand,  forms  the  chief  conij)onent  «)f  tlie  nnmerons 
islands  slndded  abont  tlu^  month.  In  many  j)la<'es 
j)eat-moss  is  to  be  foniid,  and  stems  of  trees,  wliieli 
])rove  that  vegetation  formi-rly  sjiread  fni'ther  north 
than  now.  Here,  as  well  as  in  most  i)arts  of  Siberia, 
the  larch  {Larix  Siblrica)  marks  the  commencement  of 
forest  groAvth. 


f!^ 


:h  I 


ii.iii 


,  p  ^ .  fi 


•■  ">  'r 


»(.' 
'•^; 


III,,  ''*'H'ti^ 


miff 

HUh^h 

.hhK^^h 

ill 
I 


ijlTf'i 


,.. 


^Bi 


n  ,,.jM 


1 ,  'i    -vn4)>  ■ 


cl  ■'' 


CHAPTER  XL. 
TKAVELS  IN  ALASKA. 

The  territory  of  Alaska,  i)urt'liased  by  tlie  United 
States  ill  18(.)7,  is  a  wide  and  interesting  field  for  dis- 
covery. Visited  occasionally  for  two  centuries  1>y 
navigato:  and  traders,  little  more  was  known  of  it 
in  the  civilized  world  tlian  the  outline  of  its  coast; 
l)Ut  its  annexation  to  our  country  lias  turned  oui- 
attention  to  it,  and  caused  more  accurate  details  of  it:; 
characteristics  and  resources  to  l>e  brought  within 
our  reach. 

This  vast  domain,  for  which  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment received  some  seven  million  dollars,  contains 
500,000  scjiiare  miles,  a  large  proportion  of  \^•llicll  is 
uninhabited  and  nninhabitable.  The  southern  parr 
is  peopled  by  Esquimaux,  Lidians  and  Russians, 
and  has  natural  productions  of  much  value.  lis  for- 
ests and  mineral  wealth  are  much  like  those  of  the 
neighboring  British  territory.  There  are  important 
cod-tisheries  along  various  ])<)rtions  of  the  coast ;  and 
salmon  abound  in  all  the  rivers.  The  fur-trade  has 
ahvays  been  great,  and  if  2>i'otected  liy  ]iro[)er  huvs 
may  continue  to  l)e  a  source  of  wealth  t(3  its  o\\-ners. 

The  Aleutian  Islands  comprise  a  valuable  ])ortion 
of  the  Alaskan  purchase,  and  besides  some  commeivial 
importance  have  many  points  of  interest,  including 


IIIAVKI.INC     IN     KAMCHATKA. 


r 


I": 


I'll 


I"         i 


AI.KITTIA.N;      (AnillNfi     »ll.l,h„S. 


Hiffla^ 

■ 

Bil^^wS 

1 

luHrrP 

^niw 

i> 

^pi 

■ ' 

Kii 

i- 

I^Kiii 

^WK^ 

HB 

■k'&lfl^^l 

m 

1 

■vmi 


iflm 


■'■'  ■\f,  :- 


TRAVELS    IN    ALASKA. 


677 


C^eysers,  hot  springs,  and  volcanoes.  Tlie  natives  have 
a  curious  way  of  cai)turing  whales.  They  surround 
one  with  hoats,  and  throw  into  him  so  many  harpoons^ 
to  which  hladders  filled  with  air  are  attached,  that  he 
is  ohliged  to  float  on  the  surface,  and  is  tlien  easily 
killed  with  lances. 

Much  of  our  information  respecting  the  interior  of 
Alaska,  was  gained  by  A\^Llliam  II.  Dal!  and  Frederick 
Whymper,  who  traveled  there  in  isiU*,  under  the  aus- 
])ices  of  the  Western  Union  Telegi-ajth  Company. 
The  object  of  the  exjdoration  was  to  find  a  'niital)le 
route  for  a  telegraj)!!  line  from  Bering's  Strait  to 
San  Francisco,  which  was  to  be  a  ])art  of  an  inter- 
continental line,  in  case  the  Atlantic  cables  should 
fail. 

The  Yukon  Kiver  which  the  explorers  ascended 
six  hundred  miles,  is  one  of  the  greatest  streams  in 
the  world.  The  Amazon,  the  ]Mississippi,  and  per- 
haps the  La  Plata,  alone  surpass  it.  F<tr  a  distance 
of  seventeen  hundred  miles  fVom  its  month,  its  aver- 
age width  is  more  than  a  mile,  and  while  it  courses 
through  the  centre  of  Alaska,  it  rises  far  to  the  south 
in  British  America,  near  the  sources  of  the  Alac- 
kenzie.  The  larger  portion  of  it  is  frozen  over  during 
eight  months  of  the  year,  but  in  summer  it  is  navi- 
gable far  above  Fort  Yukon.  Its  course  in  Alaska 
is  mainly  toward  the  west,  but  at  Nulato,  the  most 
northernly  t railing-post  of  the  Bussiaiis,  it  turns  and 
ilo\vs  towai'd  the  south,  and  falls  into  tlie  sea  just 
south  of  Norton's  Sound. 

Mr.  Whym])er  was  acconipanie<l  by  Jive  white  men 
and  three  Indians.  They  were  e(jui]>ped  with  four 
sledges  and  twenty  dogs.  These  dogs  were  not  of 
the  best  kind,  but  had  nuuiy  characteristics  of  the 


il!:R!|!] 


pM'^J' 


■•M'' 


I     8 


i}il:fif'^"'-'fj 


,1  ■    ,  ,i;MJS 


! 

itifei  ^ 

"™*"™  j 

t^4:^     \ 

(■ 

I  I 


if-j 


:ir'"ii:1 


,  '"»'^"'i,/!'l ' 

,,      k 

^■■■^r'-\ 

*■•■•! 


678 


I 


UP   TUE   YUKON. 


wolf.  Their  food  was  mostly  fish,  but  they  would 
eat  anything  that  afforded  nutriment. 

The  party  started  from  Unalachleet  on  Norton's 
Sound,  soon  after  the  late  sunrise  of  Oct.  27th.  The 
temperature  was  2"  above  zero ;  but  the  snow  Avas 
still  loose,  and  the  rivers  not  yet  thickly  frozen,  so 
that  their  progress  at  first  was  slow  and  tedious. 

At  noon  on  Nov.  11th,  after  an  overland  journey 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  they  saw  l)efore 
them  a  broad  and  level  expanse  of  snow,  wliich 
marked  their  n-rival  at  the  Yukon  River.  Ileachino: 
soon  after  the  Indian  village  of  Coltog,  they  rested 
there  two  days.  The  houses  of  this  village  -were 
underground,  with  an  entrance  by  a  short  shaft  and 
tunnel.  In  the  roof,  which  Avas  arched  above  ground, 
Avas  the  only  other  opening — a  hole  for  the  escape  of 
smoke  from  the  fire.  The  dogs  enjoyed  the  warmth 
of  the  dome,  and  sometimes  fell  through  to  the  fire 
below.  When  the  fire  Avas  ■^urnt  out,  and  the 
smoke-hole  Avas  covered  Avith  a  skin,  in  order  to  re- 
tain the  lieat,  there  Avas  no  ventilation  and  the  scents 
Avere  manifold  and  abominable. 

The  party  set  out  again  on  the  14tli.  The  river 
wound  about  so  much  that  tlu^y  crossed  it  several 
times  to  escape  long  curves.  Their  Avay  Avas  greatly 
obstructed  by  masses  of  ice  rising  in  irregular  heaps; 
but  even  this  ti'ack  Avas  preferable  to  that  on  land, 
for  in  the  forests  the  dogs  aa-ouUI  constantly  run  the 
sledge  against  stumps,  and  AA'ait  for  the  men  to  free  it, 
and  in  descending  hills  the  sledge  Avould  overtake  the 
dogs,  tangle  their  harness,  and  run  over  them. 

After  a  day's  journey  of  twenty-five  miles,  the  tra\-- 
elers  encamped  in  an  cnnpty  Indian  house.  They 
arose  early  the  next  morning,  and  after  going  on  some 


iey  would 


i'-'i<- 


Norton's 
7th.  The 
snow  was 
frozen,  so 
lious. 
il  Journey 
iw  l)efore 
tw,  wliicli 

Reachino: 
hey  rested 
Laore  ^vere 

shaft  and 
ve  ground, 
I  escape  of 
e  warmth 
:o  the  hre 

and  the 
der  to  re- 
the  scents 

The  river 
it  several 
■as  greatly 
lar  heaps; 
t  on  land, 
y  run  the 
to  free  it, 
ertahe  the 
m. 

i,  the  trav- 
se.  They 
c  ou  some 


Mi  i':\ 


■)•;   '' 


m 


mm 


1 

Ij 

m>  H 

If 'F 

^Bl^ 

i 

FT  ^'^liI^B'^ 

II 

^^M., 


TUAVKLS    IX    ALASKA. 


G79 


seven  miles,  met  a  train  of  sledgcys  Avitli  Russians  anu 
Indians,  wlio,  turning  back,  went  witli  tlieni  to  Nulato. 
Here  tlieir  quarters  "ere  clean  and  coin])aratively 
conit'ortaljle.  The  trading-post  is  on  tlie  north  bank 
of  the  Yukon,  on  a  flat  stretch  of  land,  at  the  mouth 
of  a  considerable  tril)utary.  There  are  large  trees  l\n' 
))uilding  purposes,  a  rich  soil,  and  in  the  short  summer, 
luxuriant  srrass  and  innumeral^le  berries.     Water  is 


l)rought 


sledsre  fn 


hob 


th 


)f  th 


on  a  sieusfe  irom  a  liDle  m  tn<^  lee  ot  tlie  riv- 
er  a  (quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  post ;  and  b}^  ^^•icker- 
baskets  let  doAvn  in  the  Avai'ir  throu'j-h  the  ice,  laru:e 
quantities  of  fish  are  caught. 

The  coldest  day  was  December  5th  when  the 
thermometei'  stood  at  HS'^  below  zero.  Yet  the  men 
did  not  feel  the  severity  of  cold,  for  the  wind  did  not 
l)low ;  whereas  a  slight  wiud,  when  the  tem])eratui'e 
was  only  a  few  degrees  below  zero,  seemed  to  search 
out  every  little  seam  or  tear  in  their  clothing,  and 
cause  special  suffering  to  "nose,  ears,  and  angles 
generally."  The  sjiortest  day,  Decem))er  2 1st,  enjoyed 
only  an  hour  and  fifty  minutes  of  sunlight.  Christ- 
mas was  celebrated  with  such  a  feast  as  the  circum- 
stances allowed.  Flue  Auroral  lights,  the  sports  of 
huntinsji;  and  tlsliini>\  tradinsj:,  and  amateur  theatricals, 
<liversified  the  winter  sojonrn  at  Kulato. 

Early  in  Aj^ril  indications  of  summer  were  seen. 
On  the  9th  tlies  appeared  ;  on  tlie  lOth  the  willows 
Avere  se'en  budding;  on  t!ie  2sth  the  first  goose 
arrived  from  the  south.  The  i-iver  began  to  thaw 
^lay  5th,  and  l)roke  np  on  the  I'.Hh;  masses  of  ice 
rushed  past  for  several  <la\s,  and  on  tlu;  24:th  the 
stream  Avas  mostly  clear.  The  llussiaus  were  now 
ready  for  a  trip  to  an  Indian  trading-])lace  two  hun- 
dred  and   fort)    miles  up  the  stream.     They  had  a 


iM^t'l  ji 


ii;||i^t:y 

'■':■■,   H 

"'.iiirti^ '.<"'!' 

'1 

'   ''    i 

m 


680 


A    WINTER    AT    NULATO. 


large  skin  boat,  fitted  with  rmlder  and  sails,  and 
capable  of  carrying  two  tons  of  goods  and  provisions. 
The  Americans  accompanied  them  with  a  smaller 
boat  and  a  cargo  of  about  seven  hundred  pomids. 
These  vessels  would  recover  from  a  collision  with 
snags  or  ice  which  would  sink  vessels  made  of  bark. 

The  summer  came  on  apace.  Ice  lingered  in  the 
river  till  May  27th,  but  on  June  5  th,  the  thermome- 
ter at  noon  stood  at  80°  in  the  shade,  and  the  heat 
compelled  the  men  to  lie  by  for  a  time. 

At  the  Indian  village  referred  to,  the  Russians 
stopped,  and  Mr.  Whymper's  party  presently  jour- 
neyed on.  Moose  hunting  was  common  in  portions  of 
the  river.  The  daj's  were  extremely  long,  and  there 
was  no  light  but  the  twilight.  Fort  Yukon  was 
reached  on  June  23d,  the  party  having  traveled  six 
hundred  miles  in  twenty-nine  days.  The  Fort  is  a 
trading-post  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  buy 
the  privilege  of  holding  it  within  the  bounds  of  Alaska. 
The  most  striking  scene  at  this  place  is  the  fur-room, 
in  which  can  be  seen  thousands  of  marten-skins  hanc:- 
ing  from  the  loeams,  and  huge  piles  of  common  furs. 

On  the  8th  of  Jvdy,  the  party  began  to  descend  the 
river.  The  current  bore  them  on  at  the  rate  of  a 
hundred  miles  a  day.  They  landed  only  two  or 
three  times  a  day  to  prepare  their  tea  and  fish,  and 
makino;  six  liuudred  miles  in  about  six  days, 
ari'ived  at  Nulato,  Here,  receiving  orders  to  return 
to  St.  Michael,  they  Avent  on  down  the  river.  The 
region  below  Nulato  is  poorer  in  vegetation  and  is 
seldom  visited  by  travelers.  The  northern  or  Aphoon 
mouth  is  the  easiest  navigated,  and  througli  it  the 
travelers  reached  the  sea,  having  come  from  Fort 
Yukon  thirteen  hundred  miles  in  fifteen  and  a  half 


ails,  and 
ovisions. 
smaller 
pounds. 
Lon  witli 
3f  Lark, 
d  in  the 
lerniome- 
tLo  lieat 

Russians 

fcly  jour- 

rtions  of 

md  there 

kon   "was 

veled  six 

?'ort  is  a 

Avho  buy 

f  Alaska. 

'ur-room, 

ns  hanc;- 

3U  furs. 

cend  the 

ite  of  a 

t^vo  or 

Isli,  and 

days, 

return 

The 

and  is 

A^phoon 

it  the 

m  Fort 

.  a  half 


V. 


■    '    '^1  ' ' 


■  ft   i     :  '  ..    ■  (I 


nrfr 


TRAVKLS    I\    ALASKA. 


r.si 


(Imyh.     Two   (1ji\m   more  of  .sjiiliii'^  l)roU''lit,  iliciii   to 
St..  Mich.'U'l. 

Tliti  (Jo-Yukon  liidiaiiM  liviiij^  ucnv  tlio  Yukon 
jihovcf  Nulato,  arc  nioi'c  sava<x<'  than  most  ti'ilx's,  and 
liuilitly  Valium  liuman  lil'i'.  Tombs  at  Nulalo  still 
mark  tlu!  massacre  of  foi'ty  Indians  and  part  oC  the 
i^uard  in  1S,")1.  Th(^  <lead  ai'e  intei'red  in  oldoni; 
boxes  rais(!d  on  [)osts,  and  are  mouiMUMl  by  tlie  \vom(!n 
for  a  year.  ^Fhe  |)(!o|»h!  supei'stitiously  save  bones  of 
animals,  thiidvlisii:  that  it'tliey  Averc*  iiji\('n  t(»  l!i<!  (b)i^s 
or  Itnrned,  their  fisiiinL!;  and  huntim:;  ('Oul<l  not  1)0 
snceessl'id.  'I'lu'y  catch  reindeer  l)y  drlvini;  them  into 
an  enclosure,  whosc^  sides  tnT.  made  of  stakes  with 
loops  between  them,  whei'ci  they  ar(i  shot.  Intemper- 
ance^ is  almost  unknown  amoni^  tlu'se  Indians.  They 
barter  furs  for  j)oi'c(^lain  beads,  combs,  lookinLr-,ii;hisse3 
and  knives.  In  tlu!  spriui^  they  all  "\\'(>ar  A\()odoii 
n;oo;gles  when  huntini^  or  tnivelini^,  to  shield  their 
eyes  from  tlui  blindiuijj  li^lare  of  the  snow;  narrow 
slits  l)efore  the  (!yes  give  sufllcient  light  for  sight. 

The  Co- Yukon  dialect  has  no  7'esend)hinc(!  to  tho 
language  spoken  at  the  coast,  but  resend)h's  that  of 
some  of  the  tribes  of  north-eastei'n  .\sia,  where  tliose 
Indians  probably  originated.  The  Yukon  tribes  are 
more  nearly  allied  to  the  true  North  American  Indian. 

Sitka,  or  New  Archangel,  the  capital  of  Alaska,  is 
situated  on  an  island  discovered  in  1741  by  Tschii'i- 
koff,  the  companion  of  Jeering.  Formerly  it  Avas 
exclusively  the  head-cpiarters  (^f  the  Russian  American 
Fur  Company,  and  tho  residence  of  the  governor,  Avho 
was  the  autocrat  of  all  the  Russians  in  America.  It 
is  now  a  town  of  considerable  importance. 


'b(i"!  i 


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33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


I 


CHAPTER  XLI. 
DR.  HAYES'  EXPEDITION. 

The  name  of  Dr.  Isaac  I.  Hayes  is  already  familiar 
to  the  reader  and  to  his  countrymen.  A  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  immediately  after  his  graduation  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
one,  he  joined  the  Second  Expedition  of  Dr.  Kane  as 
surgeon  and  naturalist.  Of  the  important  services 
which  he  ^-ondered  this  expedition,  Dr.  Kane  has  left 
ample  testimony.  The  two  men  warmly  sympathized, 
and  by  shanng  each  others  trials  and  labors  light- 
ened their  mutual  burdens.  When  by  mutual  con- 
sent, a  portion  of  the  crew  of  the  Advance  left  that 
vessel  to  attempt  to  reach  the  Danish  settlements  of 
Lower  Greenland,  Dr.  Hayes  led  the  withdrawing 
party,  which  w^as  obliged  to  return  to  the  brig  after 
penetrating  some  distance  southward. 

Undaunted  by  the  perils  and  hardships  of  his 
first  voyage,  or  by  the  untimely  death  of  his  late 
commander,  Dr.  Hayes  was  full  of  zeal  for  another 
expedition.  His  faith  was  strong  that  he  could  live 
in  the  Polar  regions  as  well  as  the  Esquimaux,  and 
could  even  penetrate  to  the  North  Pole.  It  was  diffi- 
cult to  inspire  others  with  the  same  zeal  and  faith. 
His  friends  and  the  public  generally,  received  his 
propositions  coolly.    The  game  did  not  seem  worthy 

682 


eady  familiar 
A  native  of 
luation  at  the 
ageoftwenty- 
f  Dr.  Kane  as 
jrtant  eervices 
Kane  lias  left 
y  sympathized, 
I  lahors  light- 
ly miitual  con- 
ince  left  that 
settlements  of 
3  withdrawing 
)  the  hrig  after 


'( 


(Iships   of  his 
,th  of  his  late 
al  for  another 
,t  he  could  live 
gquimaux,  and 
e.    It  was  diffi- 
zeal  and  faith. 
iy,  received  his 
,t  seem  worthy 


e, 


\\M 


lu 


( 


|ifl?»llV'W,PWWWW"»l!P"W'''"W? 


nATl«:8'    EXPEDITION. 


683 


of  the  chase.  The  many  lives  already  lost,  the  many 
sufferings  endured,  and  the  vast  property  sacrificed  in 
the  Arctic  Seas  without  commensurate  results,  were 
certainly  not  encouraging  for  future  operations. 

Not  so  thought  the  doctor.  After  having  experi- 
enced the  rigors  of  the  Frigid  Zone  for  two  long 
winters,  ho  was  satisfied  that  white  men  could  live 
there  permanently,  relying  solely  on  the  supplies  which 
the  country  furnished  for  su])port.  His  faith  and 
perseverance  were  finally  crowned  with  such  a  degree 
of  success  that  his  friends,  after  five  years  of  importu- 
nity, fitted  him  out  with  a  small  schooner,  Avhich  he 
may  be  said  to  have  argued  into  Ixjing;  for  he  went 
around  the  countiy  lecturing  on  his  favorite  project 
and  would  not  be  denied. 

The  schooner,  Spring  Hill,  was  at  length  purchased, 
her  name  changed  to  "  United  States  "  and  Dr.  Hayes 
placed  in  command.  Tlie  i>lan  of  the  expedition  was 
his  own,  antl  may  bo  best  stated  in  his  own  words: 
*'My  ol>ject  was  to  complete  the  survey  of  the  north 
coasts  of  Greenland,  and  to  make  such  explorations  as 
I  might  find  practicable  in  the  direction  of  the  North 
Pole." 

Full  of  hope  and  in  the  highest  spirits.  Dr.  Hayes 
and  his  little  party  set  sail  from  Boston,  July  7tli, 
18 GO,  steering  directly  for  the  outer  capes  of  New- 
foundland, and  so  prosperous  was  the  voyage  that 
the  "United  States"  reached  the  bold  promontory  of 
Swarte  Huk  within  the  Arctic  Circle,  Aug.  2d.  Here 
she  was  becalmed  ;  and  Dr.  Hayes'  graphic  pen  gives 
this  beautiful  description  of  the  scene  here  witnessed : — 

"  The  air  was  warm,  almost  as  a  summer's  night  at 
home,  and  yet  there  were  the  icebergs  and  the  bleak 
mountains  with  which  the  fancy,  in  this  land  of  green 


i 


IR 


684 


HAYES     EXPEDITION. 


n 


hills  and  -waving  forests,  can  associate  nothing  hut 
cold  rcjmlslvent'ss.  The  sky  was  bright  and  soft,  and 
strangely  inspii'ing  as  the  skies  of  Italy.  The  hergs 
had  wholly  lost  their  chilly  aspect,  and  glittering  in 
the  blaze  of  the  brilliant  heavens,  seemed  in  the  dis- 
tance like  masses  of  burnished  metal  or  solid  flanio. 
Nearer  at  hand,  they  were  huge  blocks  of  Parian 
mai'l)le,  inlaid  with  mammoth  gems  of  pearl  and  opal. 
One  in  particular  exhil>ited  the  perfection  of  the 
ixrand.  Its  form  was  not  unlike  that  of  the  Coli- 
seum,  and  it  lay  so  far  away  that  half  its  height  was 
buried  beneath  the  line  of  blood-red  w'atei's.  The  sun, 
slowly  rolling  along  the  horizon,  passed  behind*  it, 
and  it  seenuid  as  it'  the  old  Roman  ruin  had  suddenly 
taken  fire." 

After  several  narrow  escapes  from  nips  and  iceberg-;, 
the  "  United  States,"  was  compelled  to  take  up  her 
winter-quai-ters  at  Port  Foulke  on  the  Greenland 
coast,  about  twenty  miles  south  of  Rensselaer  Harbor. 
The  neiixhborhood  al)Ounded  with  c-ame,  and  to  this 
fact  and  to  the  great  good  cheer  Avhich  reigned  on 
the  schooner,  the  crew  were  indebted  for  the  uniform 
good  health  which  they  enjoyed  during  the  winter. 
The  dogs  were  not  so  fortunate.  These  pined  away 
and  died  during  the  long  night  as  they  did  on  Kane's 
expedition.  Dogs  have  not  the  consolations  of  hope, 
and  cannot  endure  the  artificial  life  of  ship-board  as 
well  as  men. 

Fortunately  the  Esquimaux  were  al)le  to  furnish  some 
fresh  dog  teams,  and  early  in  April,  1801,  Dr.  Hayes 
started  out  into  the  icy  wilderness.  The  Greenland 
shore  proving  perfectly  impassable,  he  resolved  to 
cross  over  the  sound  to  Grinnell  Land  and  try  to 
ascend  that  coast.     Of  the  difficulties  encountered  no 


hates'  expedition. 


685 


one  unacquainted  with  Arctic  travel  can  fonn  any 
adequate  idea.  They  were  enough  to  api)all  and  dis- 
courage at  the  start  even  the  strongest  and  most  reso- 
lute of  travelers. 

After  toiling  on  for  twenty-five  days,  Hayes  found 
that  he  was  not  half  way  over  the  sound  and  that 
his  men  were  breaking  down  from  fatigue.  Selecting 
therefore  three  of  tlie  most  robust  and  courageous, 
Jensen,  McDonald  and  Knorr,  he  sent  the  remainder 
back  to  the  schooner,  and  with  these  and  fourteen 
dogs,  he  boldly  pressed  on  to  Griunell  Laud,  which 
he  reached  in  fourteen  days. 

The  journey  along  the  coast  was  little  less  fatigu- 
ing, and  he  had  advanced  only  five  days  when  Jensen, 
the  strongest  man  in  the  i)arty,  gave  out  utterly 
exhausted.  Leaving  liim  in  chai'ge  of  McDonald,  Dr. 
Hayes  pushed  on  with  Knorr  for  his  only  companion, 
and,  May  18th,  reached  a  deep  bay  where  rotten  ice 
and  wide  seams  put  a  veto  to  further  progress.  He 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  bay  Mount  Parry,  and  fai'ther  on  Cape  Union 
— then  the  most  northern  known  land.  The  return 
to  Port  Foulke  was  safely  accomplished. 

The  schooner  liaving  T)een  released  from  the  ice,  Dr. 
Hayes  made  an  eifort,  July  12th,  to  sail  across  to  Griu- 
nell Land;  but  finding  his  little  vessel  too  crij)pled  to 
force  her  way  through  the  ]>ack  ice,  he  was  comi)elled 
to  head  her  for  liome,  where  he  arrived  in  Octo])er. 

Dr.  Hayes  subsequently  i)u)dislied  a  very  interest- 
ing history  of  his  expedition  iu  a  book  called  "The 
Open  Polar  Sea."  He  has  still  faith  that  there  is 
such  a  sea,  and  that  it  can  be  navigated.  No  man 
living  is  better  qualified  to  lead  the  way  thither. 
39 


Mtf 


M 


„Bi|i;'«;*!i 


m 


iiMiij 


,.-  if 


CHAPTER  XLII. 


CAPTAIN  HALL'S  FIRST  TWO  EXPEDITIONS. 

CiiAKLES  Francis  Hall  whose  life  of  adventures 
and  self-denial  has  closed  under  circumstances  wlpcli 
command  for  liim  the  admiration  and  sympathy  of 
his  countrymen,  was  a  native  of  New  England,  born  in 
1821.  He  received  but  a  limited  education,  learned 
the  trade  of  a  blacksmith,  and  followed  that  business 
for  several  years.  Subseciuently  he  migrated  to  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  where  he  appears  to  have  engaged  in 
various  pursuits.  He  had  a  taste  for  scientific  study 
and  inventions,  and  was  at  one  time  greatly  interested 
in  caloric  engines.  Engaging  in  the  manufacture  of 
engraved  seals  he  accpiired  skill  as  an  engraver  and 
draughtsman.  Connected  with  this  business  he  dealt 
in  stationery,  and  published  an  advertising  sheet 
called  "  7he  OtcasiovaV  From  his  experience  in 
this  incipient  journalism  he  Avas  emboldened  to  start 
"  The  Penny  Press,^''  which  under  his  successors  ac- 
quired a  large  circulation. 

The  fate  of  Sir  John  Franklin  was  about  this  time 

exciting  the  interest  of  the  world,  and  the  subject  of 

Arctic  discovery  next  absorbed  Hall's  attention.    He 

carefully  watched  all  the  various  expeditions  sent  out 

for  Franklin's  relief,  and  finally  felt  a  desire  to  join 

in  the  search.     With  this  object  in  view  he  began  to 

686 


)usines8 


HALLS   FIRST  EXPEDITION. 


687 


fit  himself  for  a  life  in  the  Frozen  Zone,  by  sleeping 
under  a  tent  at  Mount  Adams  during  the  winter 
months. 

The  tidings  hrought  by  MoClintock  led  Hall  to 
believe  that  Home  of  Franklin's  men  were  still  alive 
and  could  be  found ;  and  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  he 
was  "  called "  to  try  and  do  the  work.  So  he  deci- 
ded to  do  it.  After  laying  his  plans  before  his  Cin- 
cinnati friends,  he  went  to  New  York,  interested 
Mr.  Grinnell  in  his  scheme,  and  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Geographical  Society,  introduced  liimself  as  a  man 
who  "  wanted  to  go  and  find  the  bones  of  Sir  John 
Franklin." 

Mr.  Hall  was  not  in  any  sense  of  the  word  a  schol- 
ar, nor  was  he  a  navigator;  he  was  a  i)lain  iinobtra- 
sive  man,  and  mea.sui'ed  by  the  current  conventional- 
isms, would  Lave  nmde  a  iKK)r  figure  in  a  company  of 
gentlemen.  But  he  was  endowed  with  a  j)hy8ical 
constitution  of  exceptional  vigor  and  endurance;  able 
to  meet  all  conditions  of  life,  whether  among  people 
civilized  or  savage ;  and  possessed  of  a  vast  deal  of 
patience,  good  natujv,  and  kindness  of  heart. 

His  first  ejci)edition  north  was  a  singularly  modest 
one,  and  its  plan  was  uni(|ue.  He  did  not  i)roposeto 
break  through  the  ice  of  unknown  frozen  seas ;  but  to 
be  set  down  alone  on  the  shores  contii^uous  to  the 
waters  where  whales  are  found,  and  thence,  with 
Es(|uimaux  guides,  to  find  his  way  to  King  William's 
Land,  where  he  believed,  among  a  people  so  primitive, 
the  traditions  of  Franklin's  fate  would  certainly  sur- 
vive. 

Various  articles  of  outfit  and  about  one  thousand 
dollars  were  donated  by  friends  of  the  undertaking ; 
Williams  and  Havens  of  New  London   offered  to 


Cl 


688 


HALLrt   FIK8T   EXPEDITION. 


transport  the  trftvelei*  and  hia  outfit  t'rco  of  charge  in 
one  o(  their  Avhalini'-Hhips;  and  on  the  2i>tl»  of  May. 
1800,  Hall  Hailed  in  the  "(leori^e  Henry,"  eonunandcd 
by  Capt.  S.  O.  Buddini^ton  and  hound  for  tluf  Arctic 
whaling-grounds.  A  small  Hchooner,  the  "  Aineret," 
formerly  the  "Ilescue"  of  Kane's  tirst  exi)i'dition, 
sailed  with  the  George  Ilcnry  as  a  ten<ler.  An  Escjui- 
maux  named  Kudlago,  who  ha«l  come  to  the  ITuited 
States  with  Buddingt<Hi,  and  on  Avhom  Hall  greatly 
relied  for  assistance,  died  on  his  passage-  home;  his 
last  words  were  "Do  you  see  ice?'* 

After  touching  at  Holsteinherg,  Gieenland,  Bnd- 
dington  crossed  Davis'  Strait,  and  on  the  17th  of 
August,  anchored  his  vessel  in  a  small  bay  just  north 
of  (he  entrance  t(»  Frohisher's  Hay.  Here  and  in  tliis 
nelghl)orhood  the  whalers  commenced  operations,  and 
Hall  hegan  his  acquaintance  with  the  natives  who 
were  scattered  along  the  coast.  On  the  18th  of  Sej)- 
tember,  Caj)!.  Tyson  arrived  in  the  (feorgiana,  and 
Hall  relates  instances  of  tlu^  kind  and  unselHsh  dis- 
posititm  which  he  manifested,  while  competing  with 
Buddington's  men  in  catching  whales.  Soon  after- 
ward a  fearful  gale  came  on,  during  which  the  liescue 
was  wrecked:  the  Geor^iana  was  driven  ashore  and 
naiTowly  escaped ;  and  a  large  whal'-boat  belonging 
to  Hall,  in  which  he  exj)ected  to  make  long  trips,  was 
destroyed.  The  George  Henry  escajKn],  but  was  wreck- 
ed on  her  next  voyage  about  two  years  later. 

In  November,  Hall  made  the  actjuaintauco  of 
Ebierbing,  a  noted  hunter  and  pilot,  and  Tookoolito 
hia  wife.  They  M'cre  of  the  Escpiimaux  or  "Innuit" 
aristocracy,  had  visited  England,  could  speak  the 
English  language,  and  the  lady's  voice  was  "  low  and 
sweet."    They  became  attached   to   Hall,   were  his 


HALLS   KIUST    RXPEDITION. 


G8i) 


constant  guides  and  com j>an ions,  went  with  liini  to 
the  United  States  on  his  return,  accompanied  him  in 
his  flubsecjuent  journeys,  and  are  now  butter  known 
as  "Joe"  and  "  Hannah." 

The  George  Ilenry  remained  safely  in  her  (|uni*tere 
through  the  winter,  and  was  not  released  from  her  icy 
fetters  till  the  1 7th  of  July,  ISCU;  but  even  then, 
intervening  ice  j)revented  Bud<lington  from  reaching 
oj)en  water  where  he  wished  to  cruise  for  whales. 

Meantime  Hall  had  been  much  ashore,  nuiking 
short  journevs  aloni^:  the  eoast  and  livinir  iu  the  huts 
of  the  natives  to  ac([uire  their  language  and  habits  of 
life.  He  now  jdanned  a  longt»r  tii]),  and  on  the  0th  of 
August,  left  the  Geoige  Henry  in  a  whale-boat  rowed 
by  six  natives  to  explore  Frobisher's  Strait.  He  re- 
turned to  the  ship  on  the  27th  of  September,  and  in 
reply  to  his  first  (piestion, — "  How  many  whales  se- 
cured? "  was  informed,  "  Not  (me."  Such  is  the  "  fish- 
erman's luck  "  which  simietimes  attends  our  whalers. 

In  this  excursion  Hall  ascertained  that  Fiobisher's 
Strait  is  in  fact  a  bay;  and  it  is  touthing  t(>  8e(^  the 
value  which,  in  the  absence  of  more  important  geo- 
grajdiical  discoveries  he  jdaced  on  this  achievement. 
He  was  also  greatly  elated  at  finding  what  he  suj)- 
posed  to  be  relics  of  Frobisher's  Ex})edition — coal, 
iron,  etc. ;  these  simple  memorials  not  only  brought 
back  the  presence  of  those  stalwart  and  adventurous 
Englishmen  who  visited  the"  Jfeta  Incognitia^''  three; 
hundred  years  before,  but  gave  to  him  a  sense  of  conj- 
panionship  in  his  lonely  ramblings  over  its  desolate 
wilds.  He  also  found  a  tradition  of  this  early  expe- 
dition alive  among  the  natives.  There  had  been 
handed  down  to  them  the  memory  of  white  men  who 
had  come  iu  ships  and  lived  for  a  while  among  them ; 


V 


i 


^y^; 

/* 


f 


690 


HALLS   FIKST   KXPKDITION. 


niid  tliis  fact  conflniUMl  Ilall  in  liin  iinproHsion  of  f]io 
valiio  of  tradition,  tlirongh  wliicli,  in  tint  al)s('nce  of 
litcnitnn;,  iin))ortnnt  historical  events  like  the  wreck 
of  FranklinV  Hhi|M,  were  not  lost  among  them. 

The  researches  of  Hall  durin;^  this  e.\])edition  were 
confined  to  a  small  extent  of  tirritory  laying  several 
degrees  helow  the  Arctic  ('ircle;  hut  it  would  ho 
unjust  to  estimate  his  services  l)y  the  limit  of  latitude 
which  ho  reached.  His  exjierlcnces  enahled  liim  to 
hecome  a  competent  aiithority  in  matters  jJcrtMining 
to  tlie  iidiahitants  of  the  regi<)n,  and  he  has  thrown 
much  lii'ht  urxm  tlu-ir  customs  and  mode  of  living. 
In  eating  they  are  gluttons  of  the  highest  order. 
Hall  seems  to  havti  kept  himself  fi'om  their  excesses, 
hut  to  liave  fully  en«lorse(l  tlu'ir  tastes,  and  he  is  often 
emphatic  in  eulogl//ing  their  ahominal)le  dishes. 

Although  the  Innuiis  are  kind  an<l  hospitahle  to 
each  other  when  all  are  living  and  well,  they  are  sin- 
gularly stonydiearted  towards  the  si<'k  and  <lying. 
Especially  to  their  women  this  coolness  is  mostmcmrn- 
ful.  Wlien  one  of  i\ui  poor  <'reatures  seems  nigh  to 
death,  they  leave  her  alone  in  one  of  the  snow-houses, 
putting  near  her  a  few  of  the  articles  which  are  most 
necessary  for  life,  and  then  ivmain  in  other  houses, 
abstaining  from  lahor,  till  the  i)oor  suflerer  passes 
away.  Hall  tried  to  set  the  example  of  Christian 
kindness  to  them  in  caring  for  the  sick  ;  hut  almost  in 
vain.  The  Esquimaux  are  a  singularly  conservative 
people,  and  whatever  their  ancestors  did,  they  think 
they  must  do.  To  any  remouvstrance  against  their 
habits  they  used  always  to  answer,  "  The  old  Innuits 
did  so;"  and  that  settled  the  matter. 

Captain  Buddington  intended  to  start  for  home  in 
the  fall  of  1861,  and  all  were  greatly  disappointed 


IIALl'b   SKCOND    KXPKDITIn.V. 


091 


wln'n  it  was  found,  v(»ry  uiU'xpcfttMlly,  that  lioftvy 
j)n«'k  i(T  wjiHftlivmly  (Iriftiii!^  <lo\vii  across  th«  ontmnce 
oftliclmy.  "Our  tateis  H»*aU'(l,"  Haid  Huildiiii^ton ; 
*'an(»th(M*  winter  hero;  we  are  already  iniprisoned." 

Another  long  winter  was  j)assed  by  the  (leorge 
Henry  and  her  crew  at  Field  Hay.  As  ])rovisions 
were  short  on  tlie  Hhij),  jiortions  of  the  men  were 
tjuartered  upon  the  natives,  hut  generally  found  the 
privations  of  Innuit  life  harder  to  hear  than  a  hhort 
allowanee  of  food  on  the  vessel.  One  juan  froze  liis 
feet  s(»  itadly  that  IJuchlington  was  oldiged  to  anijni- 
tate  his  toes,  whieh  he  di«l  skillfullv.  Others  of  the 
crew  arrived  at  the  shij)  nearly  dead  with  hunger. 
One  wli(»  got  lost  was  soarehed  for  l)y  Hall  and  Bud- 
din<;ton  and  found  dead  on  the  ice. 

On  the  8th  of  the  HUfot'eding  August,  ihe  George 
Henry  again  floate<l  free,  and  the  next  day  started  for 
home.  Hall  was  accom])anied  l)y  liis  Es(|uiniaux 
friends,  and  their  infant  l»oy  Tukeliketa  who  died 
8oon  after  liis  arrival  in  the  United  States. 

After  a  stay  of  nearly  two  years  in  his  native  coun- 
try, Captain  Hall  again  stalled  north,  July  30th,  1.SC4, 
to  renew  his  aecpiaintanee  with  the  Innuits.  AVith 
Joe  and  Hannal  he  took  passage  in  the  Monticello, 
Captain  Buddiugton,  and  the  party  was  landed  on 
the  northern  coasts  of  Hudson's  15ay.  Of  hi^  five 
years'  residence  in  this  region,  little  is  known ; 
although  lie  was  most  of  the  time  in  communication 
with  whaling-ships,  and  leceived  from  them  such 
supplies  as  he  needed.  He  penetrated  north  as  far 
as  Hecla  and  Fury  Strait,  visited  King  William's 
Land,  and  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1860. 

In  a  letter  to  Henry  Grinnell  written  at  Repulse 
Bay,  June  20th,  1809,  Captain  Hall  gives  the  follow- 


602 


hall's  second  expedition-. 


ing  account  of  liis  journeys  and  the  results  of  Lis 
searcL  for  Franklin : — 

"  This  day  I  liave  returned  from  a  slcdi^e  jonrney  of  ninety 
days  to  and  from  King  William's  Land.  It  was  my  pni-pose, 
and  every  preparation  was  made,  to  make  this  jonrney  last 
season,  but  my  attention  then  having  been  called  to  ]!klclville 
Peninsula,  in  the  vicinity  of  Fury  and  Ilecla  Straits,  where 
native  report  had  it  that  white  men  had  been  seen,  I  directed 
my  expedition  there,  by  way  of  Am-I-toke,  Oog-Iik  Isle,  Ig- 
loo-lik,  with  the  ardent  hope  and  expectatiorf  of  rescuing 
alive  some  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  lost  companions.  The 
result  of  the  journey  was  the  finding  of  the  tcnting-place  of 
a  few  white  men,  and  a  stone  pillar  they  had  erected  close  by 
it  at  the  bottom  of  Pariy  liay,  which  is  some  fifty  miles  south 
of  the  western  outlet  of  Fury  and  ilecla  Straits,  and  the  vis- 
iting of  several  places  Avhere  white  men  and  their  traces  had 
been  seen  by  natives  of  Ig-loo-lik  and  vicinity  in  or  about 
the  years  1SG0-G7. 

"  The  result  of  my  sledge  Journey  to  King  William's  Land 
may  be  summed  up  thus:  None  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  com- 
panions ever  reached  or  died  on  Montreal  Island.  It  Avas 
late  in.  July,  1848,  that  Crozier  and  his  party,  of  about  forty 
or  forty-five,  passed  down  the  west  coast  of  King  William's 
Land,  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Ilcrschcl.  The  party  was  drag- 
ging two  sledges  on  the  sea  ice,  which  was  nearly  in  its  last 
stage  of  dissolution,  one  a  large  sledge  laden  with  an  awning- 
covered  boat,  and  the  other  a  small  one  laden  with  provisions 
and  camp  material.  Just  before  Crozier  and  party  arrived 
at  Cape  Ilerschel  they  were  met  by  four  families  of  natives, 
and  both  parties  went  into  camp  near  each  other.  Two 
Esquimaux  men,  who  were  of  the  native  party,  gave  mc 
much  sad  but  deeply  interesting  information.  Some  of  it 
stirred  my  heart  with  sadness,  intermingled  with  rage,  for  it 
was  a  confession  that  they,  with  their  companions,  did 
secretly  and  hastily  abandon  Crozier  and  his  party  to  sufibr 
and  die  for  need  of  fresh  provisions,  when  in  truth  it  was  in 
their  power  to  save  every  man  alive. 

"  The  next  trace  of  Crozier  and  his  party  is  to  be  found  in 


^     / 


HALL  8    SECOND   EXPEDITION. 


693 


the  skeleton  wliicli  McClintock  discovered  a  little  below,  to 
the  southward  and  eastward  of  Caj)e  Ilerschel.  This  was 
never  found  by  the  natives.  The  next  trace  is  a  camping- 
place  on  the  sea-shore  of  King  William's  Land,  about  three 
miles  eastward  of  Pfeiffer  River,  where  two  men  died  and 
received  Christian  burial.  At  this  place  iish-boncs  were 
found  by  the  natives,  which  showed  that  Crozier  and  his 
party  had  caught,  while  there,  a  species  of  fish  excellent  for 
food,  with  which  the  sea  there  abounds.  The  next  trace  of 
this  party  occurs  some  five  or  six  miles  eastward,  on  a  long, 
low  point  of  King  William's  Land,  wiierc  one  man  died  and 
was  buried.  Then  about  south-south-cast,  two  and  a  half 
miles  farther,  the  next  trace  occurs  on  Todd's  Inlet,  west  of 
Point  Richardson,  on  some  low  land  that  is  an  island  or  a 
part  of  the  main  land,  as  the  tide  may  be.  Here  the  awnlng- 
eovered  boat  and  the  remains  of  al)out  tliirty  or  thirty-five  of 
Crozicr's  party  were  found. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1S4-9,  a  large  tent  was  found  by  some  of 
the  natives  whom  I  saw,  the  lloor  of  which  was  completely 
covered  with  the  remains  of  white  men.  Close  by  were  two 
graves.  This  tent  was  a  little  way  inland  from  the  head  of 
Terror  Bay. 

"  In  the  spring  of  18G1,  when  the  snow  was  nearly  all  gone, 
an  Esquimaux  party,  conducted  by  a  native  well  known 
throughout  northern  regions,  found  two  boats,  with  many 
skeletons  in  and  about  them.  One  of  these  boats  had  been 
previously  discovered  by  McClintock ;  the  other  was  lying 
from  one-quarter  to  one-half  mile  distant,  and  must  have  hevn 
completely  entombed  in  the  snow  at  the  time  McClintock's 
parties  were  there,  or  they  most  assuredly  would  have  seen 
it.  In  and  about  this  boat,  besides  the  many  skeletons  allud- 
ed to,  were  found  many  relics. 

"The  same  year  that  the  Erebus  and  Terror  were  abandoned, 
one  of  them  consummated  the  great  North-west  passage,  having 
five  men  aboard.  The  evidence  of  the  exact  number  is  cir- 
cumstantial. Everything  about  this  I^orth-west  passage  ship 
of  Sir  John  Franklin's  expedition,  was  in  complete  order; 
four  boats  were  hanging  high  up  at  the  ship's  sides  and  one 
was  on  the  quarter-deck  ;  the  vessel  was  in  its  winter  housing 


'^•'«;i 


I 


111: 


HI 


■■I! 


(I'Slilf!"' 


1  il?"|: 


|:Cll' 


694 


HALL  8   SECOND    EXPEDITION. 


of  sail  or  tent  cloth.  This  vessel  was  found  by  the  Ook-joo- 
lik  natives,  near  O'Reilly  Island,  lat.  G8  deg.  30  niin.  north, 
long.  99  deg.  8  min.  west,  early  in  the  spring  of  IS-iO,  it  being 
frozen  in  the  midst  of  a  smooth  and  unbroken  floe  of  ice  of 
only  one  winter's  formation. 

"  To  complete  the  history  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  last  expe- 
dition, one  must  spend  a  summer  on  King  WiUiam's  Land, 
with  a  considerable  party,  whose  only  business  should  be  to 
make  searches  for  records  which  beyond  doubt  lie  buried  on 
that  island.  I  am  certain,  from  what  I  have  heard  the 
natives  say,  and  from  what  I  saw  myself,  that  little  or  nothing 
more  can  be  gained  by  making  searches  there  when  the 
island  is  clothed  in  its  winter  garb,  for  the  Esquimaux  have 
made  search  after  search,  over  all  the  coast  of  King  William's 
Land,  on  cither  side,  from  its  southern  extreme  up  to  Cape 
Felix,  the  northern  point,  for  anything  and  everything  that 
belonged  to  the  companions  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  and  these 
searches  have  been  made  when  the  snow  had  nearly  all  disap- 
peared from  the  land. 

"  My  sledge  company  from  Repulse  Bay  to  King  William's 
Land  consisted  of  eleven  souls,  all  Esquimaux.  Although 
they  are  as  untamable  as  eagles  by  nature,  yet  by  their  aid 
alone  I  was  enabled  to  reach  points  otherwise  inaccessible, 
and  when  there  to  gain  much  important  information  relative 
to  the  fate  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  expedition.  I  tried  hard 
to  accomplish  far  more  than  1  did,  but  not  one  of  the  com- 
pany would,  on  any  account  whatever,  consent  to  I'emain 
with  me  in  that  country  and  make  a  summer  search  over  that 
island,  which,  from  information  I  had  gained  of  the  natives, 
I  had  reason  to  suppose  would  be  rewarded  by  the  discovery 
of  the  whole  of  the  manuscript  records  that  had  accumulated 
in  that  great  expedition,  and  been  deposited  in  a  vault  a  lit- 
tle way  inlarul  or  eastward  of  Cape  Victory.  Knowing,  as  I 
now  do,  the  character  of  the  Esquimaux  in  that  part  of  the 
country  in  which  King  William's  Land  is  situated,  I  cannot 
wonder  at  nor  blame  the  Repulse  Bay  natives  for  their  refu- 
sal to  remain  there,  as  I  desired.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
had  we  remained,  as  I  wished,  no  one  of  us  would  ever  have 
got  out  of  the  country  alive.    How  could  we  expect,  if  we 


HALL  S    SECOND    EXPEDITION. 


695 


had  got  into  straightened  cir:;ninstancea,  that  we  should  have 
received  better  treatment  ironi  the  Esquinianx  of  that  country 
than  the  one  hundred  and  live  souls  who  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  heroic  Crozier,  some  time  after  the  landing  on 
King  William's  Land  ? 

"  Could  1  and  my  party,  with  reasonable  safety,  have 
remained  to  m.ake  a  summer  search  on  King  "William's  Land, 
it  is  not  only  probable  that  wo  t-hould  have  recovered  the 
logs  and  journals  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  expedition,  but  have 
gathered  up  and  entombed  the  remains  of  nearly  one  Inmdred 
of  his  companions,  for  they  lie  about  the  places  where  the 
three  boats  have  been  found,  and  at  the  large  camping-place 
at  the  head  of  Terror  Bay  and  the  three  other  places  that  I 
have  already  mentioned.  In  the  cove,  west  side  of  Point 
Richardson,  however.  Nature  herself  has  opened  her  bosom 
and  given  sepulture  to  the  remains  of  the  immortal  heroes 
that  have  died  there. 

"  Wherever  I  found  that  Sir  John  Franklin's  companions 
liad  died  1  erected  monuments,  then  tired  salutes  and  waved 
the  Star-Spangled  Banner  over  them,  in  memory  and  resjiect 
of  the  great  and  true  discoverers  of  the  Xorth-west  passage. 

"  I  could  have  gathered  great  quantities — a  very  great 
variety — of  relics  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  expedition,  for  they 
are  now  possessed  by  natives  all  over  tlie  Arctic  regions  that 
I  visited  or  heard  of,  from  Pond's  Bay  to  Mackenzie  River. 
As  it  was,  I  had  to  be  satisfied  with  taking  upon  our  sledges 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  total  weight  of 
relics  from  natives  about  King  William's  Land." 


I 


'i  i: 


i^-'i  ^f 


«:■<  5 


lit 

! , '  |!| 

it 

life., 

;:!...ffr;, 

* 

|i  iliii^?! 

ii  j 

;|| 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 
THE  POLAKIS  EXPEDITION. 

On  Capt.  Hall's  return  from  his  second  residence 
among  the  Esquimaux,  he  wisely  concluded  that  a 
seven  years'  search  for  relics  of  Sir  John  Franklin, 
whose  fate  had  previously  been  pretty  definitely  ascer- 
tained, had  exhausted  that  field  of  Arctic  adventure, 
and  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  project  of  a  scientific 
expedition  toward  the  North  Pole  under  Government 
auspices.  Ilis  persistent  efforts  to  arouse  a  national 
interest  in  the  enterprise  were  at  length  successful,  and 
Congress  appropriated  $50,000  for,  defraying  the  ex- 
penses of  an  expedition  to  be  sent  out  in  a  government 
vessel  under  his  command. 

Captain  Hall's  plans  of  operation,  as  stated  by  him 
in  a  lecture  given  in  December,  1870,  and  reported  in 
the  New  York  World,  were  in  part  as  follows: — 

"  Crossing  Baffin's  Bay,  he  Avill  go  to  Smith's  Is- 
land, and  from  thence  westward  through  Jones  Sound, 
following  it  for  about  two  hundred  miles  ;  then,  after 
getting  that  distance,  he  will  turn  to  the  north,  and 
go  as  far  as  practicable  before  winter  sets  in,  and 
hopes  to  get  as  far  as  80^.  There  he  \\vl\  -winter,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1872,  Avith  all  his  preparations  com- 
plete, he  will  stavt  on  a  grand  sledge  Journey  to  the 
pole. 


CAll'AIN    HALLS    PLAXS. 


697 


"  Tie  believes  that  in  sledge  traveling  he  is  an  adept. 
Tlie  natives  are  very  expert  in  those  matters ;  but  he 
thinks  he  has  improved  somewhat  on  them.  lie  has 
ij-one  throuij:h  a  I'lill  course  in  the  Arctic  collesre,  and 
thinks  he  has  little  to  learn  in  the  matter  of  sledsxe 
traveling.  This  journey,  he  expects,  Avill  0('cu])y  from 
ninety  to  one  hundred  days,  relying  entirely  for  sup- 
j)ort  on  the  provisions  obtained  on  the  way.  lie  ^vill 
take  with  him  on  this  journey  about  half  of  his  crew, 
leaving  the  rest  to  subsist  on  whales,  seals,  and  wal- 
ruses, or  anything  else  they  can  obtain. 

"Every  man  in  his  party  will  be  a  picked  man. 
Ilis  sailing  master  has  had  twenty  years'  experience 
in  the  Arctic  Seas,  and  has  full  faith  in  him  and  the 
enterprise.  Ilis  first  and  second  ofRcers  have  each 
had  ten  years'  Arctic  experience. 

"All  of  his  crew  will  be  trained  to  live  as  the 
Esquimaux  do,  and  then  they  can  stand  the  cold ;  but 
they  must  eat  raw  meat,  and  stick  to  train-oil.  He 
(Cai)tain  Hall)  has  eaten  in  one  day  fifteen  pounds 
of  raw  meat,  Avashed  down  with  two  and  a  half  i)ints 
of  train-oil  While  men  thus  live  they  can  defy  King 
Cold.  A  whale  in  those  regions  is  a  Godsend ;  one 
whale  is  equal  to  600  oxen,  and  affords  the  best  eat- 
ing that  he  has  ever  enjoyed.  In  fact,  he  has  always 
enjoyed  his  food  better  in  the  Arctic  regions  than 
anywhere  else ,  and  even  here  among  civilized  people 
the  old  longing  for  raw  meat  comes  on  him  so  strong 
sometimes,  that  he  goes  away  to  his  closet  where  no 
one  can  see  him  and  has  a  good  feed  of  raw  meat. 
And  there  is  a  virtue  in  it  which  it  loses  when 
cooked.'' 

The  steamer  Periwinkle  iiaving  been  designated 
for  the  service,  was    rechristened    the    Polaris — the 


'«  'A 


\-  '^1* 


r.:'<m  i 


I  Id'  »ii    ■    ,  J'  ^    (ii      I* 


r 


■'■k 


iili|ill't||!;,|''l 


"l^lr^ 


608 


TIIE   POLARIS    AXD    IIEli    CRLV,'. 


Latin  word  for  North  Star, — and  nndcr  the  supervialoii 
ol  Capt.  Hall  was  iitted  np  at  AVashiiigton  in  the  most 
thorongh  manner.  The  vessel  was  rigged  as  a  tojv 
sail  selioonei'  and  lier  measurement  was  400  tons. 

Tbe  Polaris  steamed  out  of  New  York  liarhor  on 
the  u'tornv)on  of  June  20th  1870,  having  on  board  the 
following  persons. — 

Cliailcs  Francis  Hiill,  Coininaiulor.  Dr.  Emil  808301?,  Zoologist. 

U.  \V.  D.  IJryaii,  Astrononior  lunl  Chaplain.  V.  Meyer,  Metcoroloj;ist. 

Sidney  O.  Uuddin'^ton,  Saiiinj^-ina.ster.  George  E.  Tyson,  Ass't  Navigator. 

IliibUard  C.  Cliestcr,  First  >Iato.  William  Morton,  Second  Mate. 

Emil  Seliuniann,  Chief  Engineer,  A.  A.  Odell,  Assistant  Engineer. 

W.  F.  Campbell,  John  W.  Booth,  Firemen. 

John  Ilcron,  Stowanl ;  William  Jackson,  Cook;  Nathan  J.  CofTni,  Carpenter. 

Ilcriiianu  Siemons,  Frederick  Anting,  J.  W.  ('.  Krnger,  Henry  Uohby,  .Joseph  B. 
Mancli,  (lustavus  Linguist,  Peter  Johnson,  William  Nindeman,  Frederick  Jainka, 
Noah  Hayes,  Seamen. 

Joe,  E.-i(iuiniaux  Interpreter  and  Hunter;  Hannah,  Interproterund  Seamstress ; 
Punna,  adopted  daughter  of  Joe  and  Hannah. 

Dr.  Bessels  was  a  Gorman  savant,  who  had  acquired 
Arctic  ex[)erience  in  a  voyage  to  Spitzl)ergen.  ]\Ioyer, 
a  native  of  Prussia,  had  been  detailed  from  the  U.  S. 
h^ignal-service  Bureau  to  accompany  the  expedition. 
Morton  was  well  knoAvn  as  the  discoverer  of  the 
"Open  Polar  sea;"  he  accompanied  Kane  on  his  two 
Arctic  voyages,  and  was  Avith  him  in  Havana  at  the 
time  of  his  death. 

Captain  Buddington,  was  a  sailor  of  great  experi- 
ence havins:  followed  the  sea  from  boyhood.  At  the 
age  of  thirteen  he  acted  as  cook  on  a  iishing  smack  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  afterwards  he  caui»:ht  mackerel, 
and  cod-fish  in  nioi'e  eastern  waters,  and  while  yet  a 
boy  went  on  a  whaling  ship  to  the  Southern  Pacific. 
When  the  ship  was  ready  to  go  home,  lie  joined  an 
empty  whaler  which  had  just  come  to  the  fishing, 
grounds,  ant^  returned  as  her  mate,  having  been  absent 
from  home  for  a  period  of  six  years. 


III'  ■■• ■  (f'l.. 


perviaion 
1  the  most 
as  a  to^)- 
toiis. 

iiirhor  on 
board  the 


oologist. 

)-ist. 

ss't  Navigator, 
'cond  JIutc. 
lilt  Engineer. 

n,  Carpenter. 
il)b_v,  Jost'pli  B. 
cderick  Janilia, 

ud  Seamstress ; 


\  acquired 
:\Ioyer, 
the  U.  S. 
xpeditioii. 
er  of  the 
11  his  two 
iia  at  the 


'at  experi- 

.     At  the 

smack  in 

I  mackerel, 

[hile  yet  a 

•n  Pacific. 

[joined  an 

le  fishing. 

leu  absent 


jl,iiiMiiH>;,i''l 


|i 


BKT-rrciT  OF  oFTinrns. 


699 


T71i(^n  Budtlington  sailed  p.gaiii  it  was  as  master  of 
a  wliiiliiig  veasel,  and  lie  had  follo\\'ed  that  business 
ever  since,  making  eleven  voyages  to  the  Arctic  seas, 
extending  over  a  period  of  twonty-threo  years.  lie 
comniJMidcd  the  "  John  Henry,"  the;  shi^)  which  gave 
Hall  a  L'te  passage  outward  and  houK^ward  on  his 
first  journey  to  the  North,  and  had  overheen  on  friend- 
ly terms  with  the  explorer. 

Hail  knew  Buddington  well,  having  spent  much 
time  at  his  home  in  Groton,  Conn.,  where  he  was  al- 
ways welcome  as  an  old  fri'nd  of  the  family.  In  his 
pnhli'lied  book  he  speaks  of  him  as  "my  noble 
friend,"  and  ndate.i  sevend  circumstances  wliich  i^o  to 
show  that  ho  conijidered  Buddiugton  to  be  what  he 
doubtless  was,  a  brave,  capable  and  humane  man,  un- 
surpassed by  any  one  as  a  safe  Arctic  navigator. 

It  Avas  these  qualities  which  led  Ca[)tain  Hall  to 
select  Buddinsxton  as  navigator  of  the  Polaris.  It  is 
said  that  he  at  first  reluctantly  consented  to  go,  as  he 
had  not  much  interest  in  an  expedition  made,  as  he 
considered,  for  no  practical  purposes;  luit  the  large 
pay  offered,  costly  presents,  the  i)romise  of  a  pension 
to  his  wife  in  case  of  his  deatli,  and  the  chance  for 
fame  if  the  voyage  proved  successful,  succeeded  in 
fascinating  him,  and  he  sailed  with  the  expedition. 

Ca[)tain  Tyson,  too,  was  an  old  whaleman  and  had 
been  on  several  voyages.  He  had  resided  in  New 
London  since  18o.'3,  and  Hall  had  there  consulted 
with  him  in  reference  to  his  first  journey  north. 
Soon  afterward  he  sailed  as  master  of  the  Georgiana, 
and  this  ship  and  the  John  Henry  anchored  for  a 
wdiile  in  the  same  Greenland  harbor,  where  the 
acquaintance  was  renewed.  When  Tyson  made  his 
first  tri])  to  sea,  Buddington  was  mate  of  the  vessel  in 
which  he  sailed. 


IMI 


Ml*S!!ii.i  :i:«: 


p.: 


700 


ON   THE   GREENLAND   COAST. 


Tyson  supplied  Captain  Hall  vvitli  provisions  and 
a  boat  at  Repulse  Bay  in  1805.  lie  sailed  in  the  Po- 
laris at  the  urgent  request  of  ILill,  without  any  stated 
office,  but  his  appointment  as  assistant  navigator  was 
sent  on  by  the  steamer  Congress  and  reached  him  at 
Disco. 

Joe  and  Hannah  were  the  American  names  of 
Hall's  Esquimaux  friends  El)ierblng  and  Tookoolito, 
who,  since  tlieir  second  arrival  in  the  Unit<Ml  States, 
had  been  living  in  Groton  near  the  '-esidence  of  C'ap- 
tain  Buddington.  Mr.  Chester,  the  first  mate  of  the 
Polaris — an  enterprising,  reliable,  and  most  capable 
man — was  also  a  resident  of  Groton. 

The  Polai'is  sto]i[)ed  at  New  London,  left  there  on 
the  8d  of  July,  and  arrived  at  St.  John's,  Newfound- 
land, on  the  11th,  wliei-e  the  pai'ty  were  hos[)itably 
entertained.  During  their  stay  liere  a  reception  and 
banquet  were  given  to  tlie  officers  at  the  house  of  tlie 
Governor;  and  the  ex[)lorers  left  on  the  lOth,  accom- 
l^anied  by  the  good  wishes  of  the  inlmbitants. 

On  tiie  27th  of  July  the  Pohu'is  entered  tlie  harl)or 
of  Fiskernaes,  Gi-eenland,  the  birth-place  of  Ilans 
Christian,  wIjoso  services  Capt.  Hall  wished  to  secure. 
Hans,  lu)\vever,  was  not  there,  but  at  a  settlement 
further  north.  Continuing  on,  the  explorers  reached 
Holsteinberg  on  the  31st,  and  there  met  Captain  Von 
Otter's  Swedish  Arctic  Expedition  which  was  then 
on  its  way  home. 

Leaving  Holsteinbei'g  on  the  3d  of  August,  the 
Polaris  anchored  the  next  day  off  the  port  of  God- 
haven  or  Lievely,  on  the  island  of  Disco,  and  there 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  U.  S.  steamship  Congress, 
which  had  been  sent  to  carry  coal  and  provisions  for 
the  use  of  the  expedition.     The  Congress  arrived  on 


DISSENSIONS    AT   DISCO. 


701 


tlie  10th;  a  part  of  her  cargo  wixh  taken  on  board 
the  l\)laris  and  tlie  balance  stored  on    shore. 

AVliile  at  (Jodliavu  some  <lisseusioii8  arose,  or  "were 
known  to  exist,  anionic  tlie  ofHeers  of  i\u'  exix'tlition. 
Tyson  says  that  ilall  liad  some  ditfieulty  with  Hud- 
dington  at  St.  John's  al)out  some  sugar  or  milk,  and 
tlireatened  to  send  him  lionie ;  that  IhuMiiigton  Avas 
a  disorgani/er  from  the  start,  associating  too  miicli 
■with  the  crew  and  talking  to  them  sliglitiiigly  of  the 
eomman(h'r  as  being  no  seaman,  etc  ;  ahhougli  rcsjjcct- 
ful  and  subordinate  in  tlie  presence  of  Hall.  'J'liero 
was  also  a  ditliculty  between  Hall  and  Jiesscls  and 
iSb'ver,  which  the  latter  says  arose  because  I  bill  ])ro- 
liibited  him  from  making  any  meteorological  obsci'va- 
tions,  as  he  wanted  him  to  attend  solely  to  the  navl 
gation  of  the  shi})  and  to  keep  Hall's  journal.  lie 
says  that  IV'ssels  also  claimed  liis  services,  and  expect- 
ed him  to  do  the  chief  i)art  of  the  scientific  woik; 
that  the  two  i)rinci[)als  consulted  together,  but  not  in 
the  most  friendly  manner,  and  that  Hessels  informed 
Ilall  that  he  would  return  to  the  Ignited  States  also, 
if  Ilall  sent  Meyer  back  as  he  had  threatened  to  do. 

Ml".  jNIeyer  says  further,  that  the  chief  engineer 
liearing  of  the:^ei)r()ci'e(llngs,(h'cljire(l  that  he  too  would 
leave  if  Vessels  did,  and  that  the  vww  i^enerallv  were 
dis2)osed  to  do  the  same ;  that  nnder  these  circum- 
stances, rather  than  have  the  expedition  broken  up, 
he  told  Captain  Ilall  that  he  AV(»uld  do  as  he  wished 
him  to  rather  than  be  tlu;  cause  of  dissension.  Hall 
then  told  himthatif  he  would  keep  the  journal  he  might 
devote  the  balance  of  his  time  to  scientific  subjects ; 
and  thus  the  matter  was  settled. 

John  Heron,  the  steward,  evidently  a  reliable  man, 

?aya  that  INIeyer  refused  to  do  some  writing  for  Hall ; 

40 


§}\ 


I  '2;  I         ■■; 


i:     1 1'  „ 
I 


u 


702 


Tin:  i:xi'i;i)iTi()N'  at  iimiuxavik. 


tlmt  ITjill  told  hlin  tliut  lie  conniiuiKlcn  tlu*  cxiMMlltion, 
Hiul  that  ^^«'y^'^  said  lu^  had  his  (Hth-rs  fi'om  hrad- 
(piartcrM;  that  Hall  asked  himt<»  |>r<)du<'(' thcsf  «»rdrrs, 
and  that  H<'ssc1h  "took  the  thiiiiic  "p  ""<1  ^ii>"l  that  if 
IMcyci'  wanted  to  i^o  ashore  he  eiudd  do  so;  the  tneii 
Haid  if  hv  did  they  woidd  do  the  same.  Captaia  Hall 
then  went  and  spoke  to  th(MiH!ii ;  the  coiiseiiuciu'i! 
was,   Meyer  went  to  his  duty,  and    Vessels  to  his. 

AVhat  Haddington  and  liessels  say  as  to  these  mat- 
ters will  l)e  reh'ited  hereafter.  It  is  evident  that  the 
arrival  of  tlie  (\ingress  at  Disco  liad  a  salntary  effect 
(m  the  discontents,  and  tliat  throngh  the  inteiferenccof 
Commander  I)avenj)ort  of  that  steamer,  who  ex- 
pounded the  law,  the  authority  of  (^aptain  Hall,  an<l 
an  api)arently  good  understanding  among  all  parties 
were  re-established. 

The  Polaris  left  Godlmvn  on  the  17th  of  August, 
amid  the  cheers  of  the  crew  of  the  C^)ngress,  and  ar- 
rived the  next  day  at  Upernavik  where  she  took  on 
board  Hans  Christian,  the  Esquhnaux  who  had  accom- 
panied Drs.  Kane  and  Hayes  in  their  voyages  to  the 
North,  with  his  Avife  and  three  children ;  also  some 
dogs,  seal-skins  and  coal.  On  the  21st  the  voyage 
north  was  resumed,  and  at  Tessuisak,  which  was 
reached  the  next  day,  Captain  Hall  mfide  his  last 
adieu  to  the  civilized  world  in  the  folloAving  letter, 
which  reached  its  destination  hy  way  of  Copenhagen 
in  just  about  one  year  after  it  Avas  written.  Nothing 
later  respecting  the  expedition  was  known  by  civilized 
people  until  a  portion  of  the  crew  Avere  rescued  from 
the  ice  nearly  tAvo  years  subsequently,  as  related  in 
next  chapter. 


HALLS    LloriKU    lUoM    TKSSnsAK. 


7U3 


LATITrDK  7;J^  21  '  10",  LoXOITIDK  r)(W  of  5''  W.,  ) 
I'mtki)  Statks  Stkamsiiii'  POLAUIS, 

ToS8A(J    OK    TliSSl  ISAK,    (iUKKN'LAXn, 

AiigiiHt  22(1,  1H71. 

Sn{ — T  Imw  the  honor  to  report  iiiy  j)i'o('('«Miiiiors 
siiu-e  tlic  (hitcs  (Aui^iist  2l>th  and  21st)  of  ni}-  last 
coinniiniinition,  -written  at  IFiternavilv.  It  was 
halt4>»st  eiglit  1*.  M.  of  AuL^iist  21st  wlieii  we  left 
the  harbor  of  Uj)ernavik,  havlnijj  on  board  (Jovern- 
or  Klberi;,  of  wlioni  \  made  previons  mention,  and 
several  of  his  pt'ople,  Ijound  for  this  place  on  a  vis- 
it. After  steainiiii,'  twelvt;  miles  to  the  northwest  and 
Avestward  we  haided  np  in  front  of  a  small  island 
settlement  called  Ivini'-i-toke,  where  (Jovernor  KIberir 
and  myself,  with  a  boat's  crew,  went  ashore  to  pur- 
chase doi^s,  furs  and  other  i'e([uisites  for  the  expe- 
dition.  I  was  able,  aft«M"  considerable  difficulty,  to 
get  eleven  dogs  to  add  to  the  number  already  pos- 
sessed by  the  Polaris.  Having  spent  tAVo  hours  at 
King-i-toke  Ave  returned  .aboard. 

At  one  A.  M.,  August  22d,  we  renewed  our  voyage 
for  Tossac,  making  our  way,  by  the  aid  of  good  na- 
tive pilots,  among  the  numerous  reefs,  rocks  and 
islands  with  which  Upernavik  and  vicinity  abound. 
At  lialf-past  five  A.  M.  of  the  22d  we  arrived  at  Tos- 
sac. At  once  I  called  on  Jensen,  and  to  my  ast(Miish- 
ment  and  disappointment  found  that  a  mistake  had 
been  made  in  any  one  of  us  expecting  that  his  consent 
could,  be  obtained  to  leave  his  home  at  the  present 
time. 

By  the  full  consent  and  co-operation  of  the  govern- 
ment authorities  of  Denmark  resident  in  Greenland, 
I  have  concluded  a  contract  witli  Hans  Christian,  by 
which  he  enters  the  service  of  the  United  States  North 


hi  utjii'u  \  II 


'  .■  Ii  •■• 


"i  !•'  ■■ 


,      4:M.-I„:|j/I 


Bit", 


'i 


!*'l«iM  ('! 


ro4 


HALL  S    LETTER   FROM    TESSUISAK. 


Polar  Expedition  as  dog  driver,  liunter  and  servant. 
Tlie  wife  and  three  children  are  to  accompany  Ilans. 
The  prospects  of  the  expedition  are  line — the  weather 
beautiful,  clear  and  unexceptionally  warm.  Every 
preparation  has  been  made  to  bid  farewell  to  civiliza- 
tion for  several  years,  if  need  be,  to  accomplish  our 
purpose.  Our  coal  bunkers  are  not  only  full,  but  we 
have  fully  ten  tons  on  deck,  besides  wood,  j)lanks,  tar 
and  rosin  in  considerable  quantities,  that  can  be  used 
for  steaming  purposes  in  any  emergency.  Never  was 
an  Arctic  expedition  more  con^pletely  fitted  out  than 
this. 

The  progress  of  the  Polaris  so  far  has  been  quite 
favorable,  making  exceedingly  good  jiassages  from 
port  to  port — first  from  Washington  to  New  York, 
thence  to  New  London ;  then  to  St.  John's,  N.  F.,  and 
thence  to  Greenland.  First  to  Fiskernaes,  then  to  IIol- 
steinberg,  thence  to  Godhavn,  Upernavik,  and  this 
port  (Tossac),  the  last  link  binding  us  to  the  land  of 
civilization.  The  actual  steamiii;j[  or  sailiiioi:  time  of 
the  Polaris  fi'om  Washington  to  New  York  was  sixty 
liours,  and  from  the  hitter  place  to  this — the  most 
northern  civilized  settlement  of  the  world,  iniless  there 
be  one  for  us  to  discover  at  or  near  the  North  Pole — 
has  been  twenty  days  seven  hours  and  thirty  minutes. 
There  is  every  I'eason  to  rejoice  that  everything  per- 
taining to  the  expedition,  under  the  rulings  of  High 
Heaven,  is  in  a  far  more  prosperous  and  substantially 
successful  conditi(ni  than  even  I  had  hoped  or  prayed 
for.  AVe  are  making  every  effort  to  leave  here  to-mor- 
row. I  will  at  the  latest  moment  i-esuine  my  place  in 
continuing  this  communication. 

Evening,  August  2od,  1871. — We  did  not  get  under 
way  to-day,  as  expected,  because  a  heavy,  dark  fog- 
lias  prevailed  all  day,  and  the  same  noAV  continues. 


HALLS   GOOD-BVE   TO   CIVILIZATION. 


705 


Tlie  venture  of  steamino'  out  into  a  sea  of  undefined 
reefs  and  sunken  rocks,  under  tlie  present  circum- 
stances, could  not  be  luidei'taken.  The  full  number 
of  dogs  (sixty)  required  for  the  ex})editioii,  is  now 
made  up.  At  tlie  several  ports  of  Greenland  ^^•]u're 
Ave  have  stopped  Ave  liave  been  successful  in  oljla'ming 
proper  food  for  the  do^s. 

Aug.  24:  1  P.M. — Thefogcontinues,  and  we  cannot 
Avait  for  its  dispersion,  for  a  longer  (U^lay  will  make 
it  doubtful  of  the  expedition  set-uring  the  very  high 
latitude  I  desire  to  ol)tain  before  entering  into  Avinter 
quarters.  A  good  jtilot  lias  oifered  to  do  his  A^ery  l)est 
in  conducting  the  Polaris  outside  of  the  most  imminent 
danger  of  the  I'eefs  and  rocks.  Now,  halfq)ast  one 
F.  M.,  the  anchor  of  the  Polaris  has  just  been  Aveighed, 
and  not  again  will  it  go  down  till,  as  I  trust  and  pray, 
a  higher,  a  far  higher  latitude  has  been  attained  than 
ever  before  by  civilized  man.  Governor  Kllx'i'g  is 
about  ace()ni])anying  us  out  of  the  liai'bor  and  seaward. 
lie  leaves  us  Avheii  tlu^  ])ilot  does. 

Governor  Lowertz  EibiM'g  has  rendered  to  this  ex- 
pedition much  service,  and  long  Avill  1  remembei-  him 
for  his  great  kindness.  1  am  sure  you  and  my  enun- 
tiy  Avill  fully  ap])reciate  the  liosj)itality  and  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Danish  ofticials  in  Greenland  as  relating  to 
our  North  Polar  Expedition. 

NoAV,  at  a  (quarter  jxist  tAVo,  the  Polaris  bids  adieu 


+0  civi 


lizat 


ion. 


(io\  ernor  Elberg  leaA-^es  us,  promising  to  take  these 
despatches  back  to  U])ernavik  and  to  send  them  to 
our  Minister  at  Copenhagen  by  the  next  shi]),  \\  hich 
opportunity  may  not  be  untilnextyear.     (rod  be  A\ith 


us. 


ours  ever, 


C.  F.  HALL 


To  Geo  KG  E  M.   Kojn':sox,  Secretary  of  the  NaAy, 
Washinu'ton. 


1 

.1 

[ 

1™ 

f 

'il 

i'lv-' 

'1 

,., 

i 

■f 

lj/:;i.i, 

I; 

1 

i 

■    ■' 

i 

ii 

i 

;   ^i 


II.:  I 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 


ADRIFT  ON  THE  FLOES. 


mm 


cv  ■■   } 


On  tlie  30tli  day  of  A})!-!!,  A.  D.  1873,  as  the  steamei 
Tigress,  of  St.  John's,  Newfouiidhind,  was  steaming 
some  forty  miles  oft'  the  coast  of  Labrador  on  a  sealing 
expedition,  she  was  hailed,  a}>out  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  hy  an  Esquimaux,  Avho  paddled  alongside  in 
his  kyak  and  called  the  attention  of  her  crew  to  a 
gronj)  of  miserable  looking  men,  women,  and  children, 
who  ^\•ere  adrift  on  an  ice  floe,  near  which,  in  a  dense 
fog,  the  steamer  had  ]>r(>videntially  come. 

The  Tigress  immediately  headed  for  the  castaways, 
her  creAV  giving  and  receiving  heai-ty  cheers  as  they 
drew  near.  Two  boats  Avere  immediately  sent  off, 
and  the  whole  party  were  soon  on  ])oar(l  the  steamer, 
where  Ca[)t.  Bartlett  and  his  crew  of  one  hundred 
and  t\venty  Newfoundland  fishermen  treated  them 
with  nuich  hospitality  and  kindness. 

The  rescued  party  nund)ered  nineteen  jDersons,  ten 
white  men  and  nine  Es(piimaux.  Brielly,  their  story 
was  a  fearful  and  thrilling  one.  They  were  a  portion 
of  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Arctic  steamer  Polaris, 
and  the  Esipnmaux  connected  with  the  Expedition. 
They  were  sei)arated  from  their  steamer  on  the  night 
of  Oct.  15th,  during  a  snow  storm  and  a  heavy  gale 
which  had  suddenly  driven  the  vessel  oft'  from  the  ice 


k'7.". 

i 

1' 

1'      1 

i  I 


iiji»'i!i|  II 


^  -'|||H 


^'•f'      .,;, 


i 


l|.!i(||i,     <!-! 


■■'■■,»' 


I  I 


i.",    i,if'\ 


mi 


PICKED    UP    LY    THE   TIGR1<SS. 


07 


floe  to  which  she  was  fastenetl,  leaving  tlie  party 
behind  on  the  ice.  Not  heing  able  to  regain  the  ship 
or  to  readi  the  land,  they  liad  remained  on  tlie  floes 
for  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  days,  diu'insj:  which 
time,  exposed  to  hunger,  and  tlie  -winds,  waves,  and 
frozen  convulsions  of  an  Arctic  winter,  they  had 
drifted  southerly  some  fifteen  hundred  miles.  Capt. 
Hall  died  on  board  the  Polaris  on  the  8th  day  of 
November,  1871,  and  was  buned  in  a  frozen  grave. 
Of  the  fate  of  the  ship  and  the  balance  of  tlie  crew 
they  knew  nothing. 

As  the  Tigress  had  not  secured  a  full  cora])lement 
of  seals  she  continued  n()rth^val'd  for  several  days, 
encounterinsT-  heavy  drifting:  ice,  but  meetimx  M'ith 
poor  success  in  catching  seals.  On  the  7th  of  May  she 
was  headed  south,  and  arrived  at  Bay  Roberts,  a  fish- 
ing i)ort  near  St,  John's,  on  the  9th  of  Ma}'. 

Here  the  Tigress  remained  till  the  12th  of  ^Nlay. 
The  party  went  ashore,  and  were  very  kindly  I'eceived 
by  the  inhabitants.  They  were  also  visited  l)y  many 
gentlemen  from  St.  John's,  including  the  ubiquitous 
corres})oiident  of  the  JVew  York  ILnvJxl^  and  through 
his  enterprise  the  sad  news  of  the  death  of  Capt.  Hall 
appeared  in  tliat  paper  of  May  lOtli.  The  news  of 
the  disaster  to  the  Arctic  Expedition  reached  St.  John's 
on  the  t>th  of  INfay,  and  the  U.  S.  Consul  immediately 
telegrajilied  to  AVashingtoii,  D.  C,  an  official  announce- 
ment thereof. 

The  inhabitants  of  St.  John's  have  a  thorou<j:h 
knoAvledo;e  of  the  dans^ers  of  the  Arctic  Seas,  and  were 
able  to  understand  the  sufferings  and  piivations  Avhich 
the  abandoned  mariners  must  have  endured  ere  tliev 
Avere  rescued.  Therefore  the  arrival  of  the  Tigress 
with  the  survivors  was  impatiently  exi)ected  at  that 


.ji: 


:.!ir' 


HI     ,  -i*!"!'""  nil 


:   il|ii«(|||.!:,i« 


'  f 

■V ..  ■■■  ■-; 

1 

111 

i       .i   I   ■    i' 


iiiM 


'\m^ 


708 


EXCITEMENT   AT   ST.    JOHN  8 


§m 


port,  and  no  sooner  Inul  the  ship  dropped  anchor  In 
the  har])or  on  the  12th,  than  crowds,  jmtting  oft'  in 
hoats,  hesieged  tlie  decks,  and  overwhehne<l  tlie  stran- 
gers with  intense  curiosity  and  torrents  of  (piestions 
as  to  the  origin  of  their  strange  condition,  and  the 
unparalleled  powers  of  endurance  which  had  Lrought 
them  triumphantly  through  so  many  stupendous  i)ei'ils. 

But  if  the  excitement  on  lioard  the  vessel  was  con sid- 
eral)le,  the  scene  as  the  ])oats  a])])roaclu;d  the  shore 
was  one  of  wildest  enthusiasm.  It  lia])])ened  that 
there  Avas  ice  in  the  harhor,  Avhich  in  certain  places 
obstructed  their  passage,  and  as  the  Loats'  heads  were 
turned  one  Avay  or  another  to  obtain  an  entrance, 
dense  columns  of  people  of  all  classes  moved  u})  and 
down  the  <piays  lining  the  water  of  the  harbor,  accord- 
ing as  the  course  seemed  to  be  directed  to  one  point 
or  another. 

At  the  landing  an  impetuous  rush  was  made  to 
obtain  a  view  of  the  novel  strangers.  The  Esipiimaux 
children  were  carried  throu!>'li  the  streets  on  the 
shoulders  of  some  of  the  ])rominent  citizens,  and  the 
whole  party  was  escoi'ted  to  homes  wliicli  had  been 
pre\iously  provided  for  them  by  the  U,  S.  Consul, 
who  had  ])een  instructed  by  the  lion.  Geoi-ge  M. 
llol)eson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  advance  money 
and  every  recpiisite  assistance  to  the  long  suffei'ing 
mariners. 

The  rescued  ]>arty  consisted  of  the  following  per- 
sons: Georn'e  E.  Tyson,  assistant  navin-ator;  Frederick 
Meyer,  meteorologist ;  J.  W,  C,  Kruger,  G.  W.  Lin- 
qui'^t,  Frederick  Auntiny,  Peter  Johnson,  Frederick 
Jandca,  and  William  Lindei-man,  seamen ;  John  Iler- 
ron,  steward ;  William  Jackson,  cook ;  and  the  follow- 
ing Es(piimaux :  Joe,  his  wife  Hannah,  and  his  adopted 


k  ^'    ., 


nclior  111 


HAXS   AND    HIS   FAJIILT. 


709 


{Imig'liter  Pimna ;  Hans  Christian,  liis  wife,  and  his 
cliildreu  Aiigustina,  Tobias,  Liicci,  and  a  baby  which 
was  ])om  on  board  the  Pohiris  only  two  months  before 
tlie  company  parted  from  that  vessel.  Thi'J  child  was 
baptized  during  the  stay  of  its  parents  at  St.John's. 

With  the  exception  of  Ilans  and  his  interesting 
family,  all  of  these  persons  ^vere  members  of  the  exi)e- 
dition  from  its  start.  Hans,  his  wife,  and  three  chil- 
dren, joined  it  at  Upernavik.  This  is  the  same  Hans 
who  accompanied  Dr.  Kane  on  his  second  expedition, 
dnrino-  the  tryinii;  vicissitudes  of  which  he  acted  well 
his  part.  He  subsequently  went  Avith  Dr.  ] laves' 
expedition,  and  has  figured  in  Sunday-school  literature 
as  the  devout  jMoravian.  When  Dr.  Kane's  ])arty  last 
saw  Hans  he  was  driving  south  with  Shang-lnrs  })retty 
daughter  l)y  his  side,  and  it  is  presumed  that  she  is 
the  i)resent  ]Mrs.  Hans. 

The  ne^vs  of  the  death  of  Capt.  Hall  caused  sorrow 
throughout  the  country;  while  the  meagre  story  of 
the  drift  on  the  ice  excited  dee])  and  absorbing  inter- 
est, mimrled  with  doubts  as  to  its  truth.  It  was 
claimed  that  such  experiences  were  unparalleled  and 
highly  improbable ;  and  reasoning  from  the  strange 
se})ai'ation  from  the  shi]),  the  reticence  of  Caj)t.  Tyson, 
the  discord  among  the  officers  at  Disco,  and  the  suspi- 
cious circumstances  attending  the  death  of  Capt.  Hall, 
the  public  l)egan  to  believe  that  there  had  ])evn  foul 
play  somewhere.  Not  a  few  accoi)ted  the  theory  that 
Hall  had  been  j)oisoned  by  some  one  remaining  behind 
with  the  ship,  and  that  Ca})t.  TJuddington  had  will- 
fully deserted  those  who,  at  his  own  command,  had 
betaken  themselves  to  the  ice.  The  fi'iends  of  Bud- 
dington  claimed,  on  the  other  hand,  that  back  of  all 
was  a  story  of  mutiny  and  desertion  A\'liicli  would 


i|!£|ii'^ilil|  III 


J    h 


1 

1  li 

ISi 

,|1:       ! 

no 


SUSPICIOXS   OF   FOUL   PLAY — THE   FROLIC. 


only  1)6  l)rouglit  to  light  hy  the  return  of  the  Polaris. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  Polaris  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Government, 
and  that  it  might  be  in  need  of  assistance,  it  was  con- 
sidered of  great  imi)ortance  that  the  authorities  at 
Washington  should  l^e  put,  as  soon  as  possible,  in 
possession  of  full  and  reliable  knowledge  of  all  the 
facts  of  the  case.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  there- 
fore, in  the  absence  of  any  regular  communicati(jn 
with  St.  John's,  sent  the  U.  S.  Steamer  Frolic,  Com- 
mander C.  M.  Schoonmaker,  to  bring  the  party  direct 
to  Washington.  She  sailed  from  New  York,  for  that 
purpose,  May  15th. 

The  Fi'olic  arrived  at  St.  John's,  May  23d.  Taking 
the  Polaris  party  on  board,  she  started  on  her  home- 
ward trip  on  the  2Sth,  and  arrived  at  the  Washington 
Navy  Yard  on  the  r)th  of  June.  Commander  Schoon- 
maker reported  that  he  had  had  no  troidde  with  his 
charge,  and  that  they  were  all  "well-behaved,  orderly 
peo])le.  lie  had  formed  a  very  favorable  opinion  of 
Cai)t.  Tyson,  and  considered  him  a  remarkably  intelli- 
gent man. 

Orders  were  given  that  no  person  should  be  allowed 
to  comnumicate  with  any  one  on  the  Frolic,  and  an 
examination  of  the  Polaris  party  was  commenced  the 
same  afternoon  at  the  navy  yard  l)efore  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  Commodore  William  lleynolds,  Professor 
Spencer  F.  Baird  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and 
Capt.  II.  W.  II()^vgate  of  the  Signal  Service.  The 
investigation  lasted  six  days  and  Avas  very  thorough, 
each  member  of  the  party  being  separately  examined 
under  oath,  excepting  Mrs.  Ilans  Christian,  Punn}', 
and  the  little  Christians.  The  results  of  this  investi- 
gation Avill  be  given  at  length  in  f olloAving  chapters. 


y'H 


CHAPTER  XLV. 
THE  STORY  OF  THE  ICE-DRIFT  PARTY. 

Backed  by  a  glacier  and  fronted  by  a  bay,  Tessuisak, 
tlie  most  northern  abode  of  civilized  man,  has  the 
characteristic  features  of  an  Esquimaux  village ;  dirt 
and  grease  all  the  year  around,  dark  for  four  months, 
accessible  throuijcli  the  floatincj  ice  of  an  Arctic  Sum- 
mer  for  only  two.  But  Tessuisak  has  an  importance 
of  its  own.  Here  Arctic  explorers  cut  the  last  link 
that  l)inds  them  to  home  and  friends,  here  the  Polaris 
cast  oft'  from  civilization,  August  24th,  1871,  and  here 
the  history  of  the  expedition  as  told  by  the  rescued 
survivors  of  the  ice-drift  begins. 

For  three  days  the  ship  steamed  up  Smith's  Sound 
through  the  usual  perils  of  Arctic  navigation.  Past 
Kane's  winter-quarters  and  the  abandoned  Advance  ; 
through  the  bergs  with  which  the  great  Humboldt 
Glacier  on  the  right  iilled  the  sea;  now  dodufino-  a 
berg  and  now  sailing  past  a  iloe  the  stout  ship  Avent 


on, 


going 


against 


ice 


like 


one 


berg 


going 


acfainst 


another"  says  one  of  the  sailors  enthusiastically. 
Already  farther  than  any  vessel  had  ever  sailed  to 
the  west  of  Greenland,  she  still  kept  to  the  North 
through  Kennedy's  Channel,  till  Kane's  "  Open  Polar 
Sea"Avas  proved  a  bay  and  named  after  the  vessel 
that  first   cut   its   waters ;  till  Cape  Lieber,  for  ten 


>p  ■   ''  I 


9^M 


'   II' 


I  !f:..„l!': 


712 


THE    rOLAUIS    IX    llUill    LATITrDE. 


yeai's  the  limit  of  iioi'tlicni  discovi'iy,  Hayes'  final 
ut'hii'veint'iit,  lay  astern, — on,  through  a  Innulrcd  mlh's 
of  new  (lisscoveries,  into  Uol)e.son's  Channel,  now  first 
named. 

On  Wednesday,  Aui^ust  .'loth,  the  mists  of  ap. 
jM'oaehing  icii-fields  shut  arouial  tiie  vessel,  and  her 
engines  were  sto|)])ed;  she  lay  ])eset  by  ice  at  a 
liiui'her  latitude  than  aiiv  shin  had  ever  been — 82^'1()'. 
Parry's  sledges,  after  Aveeks  of  toil,  had  penetrated 
but  thirty-tbui'  miles  farther.  Tlie  eoveted  piize  of  a 
life-time  lay  almost  witliin  Cai)lain  Hall's  grasp.  The 
Pole,  over  which  ho  had  fondly  dreamed  of  anchoi'ing 
the  vessel  he  conunanded,  was  l)ut  live  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  miles  away — only  four  days'  sail,  and  he 
had  gone  nearly  twice  the  distance  in  tin;  week 
before.  The  Aveather  "was  A\arm  ;  six  Aveeks  of  the 
long  day  were  still  his.  ^V  gale  from  the  south,  a 
bold  (hash  thi'ough  an  opening  lead,  and  the  Polaris 
mioht  furl  her  sjiils  in  the  starlit  calm  of  a  Polar  8ea. 

After  being  tied  to  a  ih^e  for  a  fe\s'  hours  the 
Polaris  steamed  eastward,  Avhere  llall  In  a  small  ]>oat 
examined  an  inlet,  but  as  the  ])lace  was  not  suitable 
for  a  harbor  he  called  it  l\ej)ulse  Bay.  lie  then 
steamed  "westward  and  fastened  to  a  floe  for  the  night. 
After  a  council  of  officers,  in  Avhidi  Buddington  was 
in  faxor  of  gaining  a  winter  harbor  Mithout  delay,  an 
iinsnccessful  attempt  was  made  to  jH'neti'ate  north, 
and  as  a  result,  the  Polaris  was  soon  helpless  in  the 
midst  of  the  ])ack,  and  for  four  days  drifted  southerly 
with  it. 

A\'hen  released  from  the  ice  the  Polaris  was  headed, 
eastward,  and,  at  a  small  inlet  of  Polaris  Bay,  found 
a  tolerably  secure  anchorage  in  the  lee  of  a  stranded 
ice-berg   in    latitude    81'^38^      Only   ten    days   Lad 


THANK   GOD    IIARHOU. 


ri3 


elapf<('(l  since  tlio  V(^yaG^o  from  Tcssuisuk  was  com- 
iii('iift'(l ;  but  the  (laiiujci-s  escaped  were  cMoiii;'!!  to  give 
the  little  inlet  it's  name  oF  Thank  (Jod  Ilaihor,  and 
tln!  lios[)ital)lo  bei'g  was  digiillied  with  the  title  of 
Providence  Berg.  At  midniu'ht,  in  the  full  light  of 
an  Arctic  sunnnei",  Ca[)tain  Hall  made  a  formal  land- 
ing (^n  the  coast  ho  liad  discoveivd,  and  I'aiscd  over  it 
liis  jlag,  "in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  for  the  Presi- 
dent of  tlie  United  States." 

In  a  f(!W  days  the  Polaris  Avas  firndy  frozen  iu  tlie 
ice.  Tlie  slo})ing  side  of  Providence  l>ei'g,  sixty  feet 
high,  protected  the  vessel  seaward.  High  clitVs,  bare 
and  brown,  rose  hmdward  to  tlui  lieight  of  nearly 
two  tliousand  feet,  and  sank  away  into  the  hills 
Avhich  bounded  a  broad  and  wide  shore  plain.  The 
Polar  Star  stood  so  nearly  in  the  zenith  that  actual 
measurement  was  required  to  prove  it  to  be  eight 
degrees  north.  In  the  coming  spring  and  summer 
Capt.  Ilall  hoped  to  place  it  directly  over  his  head. 
The  mountains  of  inner  Greenland  lifted  their  white 
crests  iifteen  miles  away,  and  already  began  to  shut 
out  the  siinlio-ht  in  its  circlinu;  march  around  the 
horizon. 

The  sides  of  the  Polaris  were  l)anked  with  snow 
and  lier  deck  roofed  from  stem  to  stern  Avith  canvas. 
The  dogs,  fifty-four  iu  numl)er,  were  taken  ashore 
and  phiced  in  kennels,  whei'O  they  were  fed  twice  a 
week.  The  observatory,  a  frame  building  madii  in 
New  York,  was  erected  on  the  cliffs  at  an  elevation 
>of  seventeen  hundred  feet.  Provisions  were  put  on 
shore,  and  the  other  usual  pre])arations  for  spending 
an  Arctic  night  in  high  latitudes  completed. 

Three  or  four  weeks  of  daylight  still  remained  and 
they  were  busily  employed.     Hans  and  Joe  brought 


li,:,.'-?,:;!* 


Illi' 


•;'  Jii 


714 


HALLS   JOUKNEY   TO   TIIK    NOKTII. 


in  musk-oxen,  liarea,  Icniniiiiij^M,  and  spcciiucn^j  of  n 
snuiU  burrowing  rat.  Wliito  foxes  were  found  in 
lai'ge  nunil»ers.  Tho  valh^ys  l)oro  hiiglit-colored 
ilowers,  red  and  hluo  ])v'nv^  tlie  prevailing  tints,  and 
trailing  willows — the  only  rej)resentatives  of  the  trees 
of  ft  warmer  clime.  The  sea  swarmed  with  tho  minut«; 
life  of  an  Arctic  ocean,  and  the  air  was  j)o[)ulou8  with 
the  ])ir(l8  with  which  previous  chapters  have  made 
tlie  reader  familiar. 

As  he  surveyed  all  these  tokens  of  a  still  warmer 
climate  further  north,  it  must  have  been  with  no 
ordinary  hoj)es  of  success  that  Captain  Hall  looked 
forward  to  the  sledge  journeys  of  the  coming  spring; 
and  preliminary  thereto  he  left  the  Polaris  on  the 
10th  of  October,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Chester,  Joe 
and  Hans,  with  two  sledges  and  fourteen  dogs. 

Setting  out  on  this  expedition,  the  first  step  taken 
by  Captain  Hall  fell  upon  land  more  noithern  than 
white  man's  foot  had  ever  before  touched.  In  the 
progress  of  the  journey — unhappily  the  last  that 
Captain  Hall  was  to  make  toward  the  Pole — he  dis- 
covered a  river,  a  lake,  and  a  large  inlet  which  he 
named  Newman's  Bay.  At  Cape  Brevoort,  he 
rested,  and  there  wrote  his  last  dispatch  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  original  draft  of  which 
was  found,  in  his  own  handwriting,  in  his  writing- 
desk,  on  its  examination  in  Washington  after  it  was 
delivered  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  by  Joe,  who 
had  kept  the  desk  in  his  custody  from  the  time  it  was 
picked  up  on  the  ice,  after  the  separation  of  the 
rescued  party  from  the  ship.  This  dispatch  is  as 
follows : — 


lIALl/s    LAST   DlSl'ATCir. 


715 


Sixth  Sxow-irnrsK  Encampmkn't,  Cape  TlrjEvooRT. 
NoiMirsiDK  Mntkanck  TO  Nkwman'h  I>ay, 
{latitude  Sii^'  '6'  north,  lujujitude  (W  20'  wef)t\ 

(Mohe/'^O,  1S71. 
"To  Tin;    iroNouAiii.R  Secrktahv  of  thk  United  States 
Navy,  (rKoiJuE  M.  Uuueson  : 

"jMyHL'lf  Hinl  party,  coiisiBtiii^ij  of  "Mr.  Chester,  fiivt  niivte, 
my  Ks(iuiiiiiui.\  Joe,  uiul  (rroeiiliiiul  lOsfjiiiiiiiiux  Iliiii^,  left 
the  whip  ill  wiiiter-([niirters,  Thiiiik  (iod  lliirhor,  latitiitle  Hl«* 
JJS'  north,  htiigitiule  (U'^  44'  west,  at  meridian  of  ()(!toher  10, 
on  a  journey  l)y  two  sk-dgea,  dnivvii  by  fourteen  dix^n,  to 
discover,  if  ])ossihk»,  a  feasible  route  iidand  for  my  sledgo 
journey  next  spring  to  reach  the  North  Pole,  purposing  to 
adopt  such  a  route,  if  found,  bettor  than  a  route  over  the 
old  llocs  and  Innnmocks  of  the  strait,  which  I  have  denomi- 
nated Tlobeson  Strait,  after  the  honorable  Secretary  of  tho 
United  States  Navy. 

"We  arrived  on  tho  evening  of  October  17,  having  dis- 
covered a  lake  and  a  river  on  our  way ;  tho  latter,  our  route, 
a  most  serpentine  one,  which  led  us  on  to  this  bay,  fifteen 
miles  distant  from  here,  southward  and  eastward.  From 
tho  top  of  an  iceberg,  near  the  mouth  of  said  river, 
wo  could  see  that  this  bay,  which  I  have  named  after 
Rev.  Dr.  Newman,  extended  to  the  highland  eastward 
and  southwai'd  of  that  position  about  fifteen  miles,  making 
the  extent  of  Newman's  Bay,  from  its  headland  or  cape, 
full  thirty  miles. 

"  Tho  south  cape  is  a  high,  bold,  and  noble  headland.  I 
have  named  it  Sumner  Headland,  after  Hon.  Charles  Sumner, 
the  orator  and  United  States  Senator ;  and  tho  north  cape, 
Brevoort  Cape,  after  J.  Carson  Brevoort,  a  strong  friend  to 
Arctic  discoveries. 

"  On  arriving  hero  wo  found  the  mouth  of  Newman's  Bay 
open  water,  having  numerous  seals  in  it,  bobbing  up  their 
heads ;  this  open  water  making  close  both  to  Sumner  Head- 
land and  Cape  Brevoort,  and  the  ice  of  Robeson  Strait  on 
the  move,  thus  debarring  all  possible  chance  of  extending 
our  journey  on  the  ice  up  the  strait. 


MB} 


,1  '"I '111  HI 
lit-*''     '  t^* 

f      ]' 


?! 


mr 


71G 


HALL  S    LAST    DISPATCH. 


"The  mountainous. land  (none  other  abont  here)  will  not 
admit  of  our  journeying  further  north,  and  as  the  time  of 
our  expected  absence  was  understood  to  be  for  two  week?, 
wo  connnonce  our  return  to-morrnw  morning.  To-day  we 
are  storm-bound  to  this  our  sixtli  encampment. 

"  From  Cape  Brevoort  we  can  see  land  extending  on  the 
west  side  vi  the  strait  to  tlie  north  22°  west,  and  distant 
about  seventy  miles,  thus  making  land  we  discover  as  far  as 
latitude  8.'}^  b'  north. 

"There  is  appearance  of  land  further  north,  and  extending 
more  easterly  than  what  I  have  just  noted,  but  a  peculiar 
dark  nimbus  cloud  that  constantly  hangs  over  M'hat  seems 
may  be  land  prevents  my  making  a  full  determination. 

"  On  August  30,  the  Polaris  made  her  '>:reate^t  northincr 
latitude  ^2°  29'  north  ;  but  after  several  attempts  to  get  her 
further  north,  she  became  beset,  when  we  were  drifted  down 
to  about  latitude  81*  30'.  "When  an  opening  occurred  we 
steamed  out  of  the  pack  and  made  harbor  Se})tember  3, 
where  the  Polaris  is.  [Corner  of  the  manuscript  here 
burned  off] 

"  Up  to  the  time  I  and  my  party  left  the  ship  all  have 
been  well,  and  continue  with  high  hopes  of  aocomplishhig 
our  great  mission. 

"  We  find  this  a  much  warmer  country  than  wo  expected. 
From  Capo  Alexander  the  mountains  on  either  side  of  the 
Kennedy  Channel  and  Robeson  Strait  we  found  entirely 
bare  of  snow  and  ice,  with  the  exception  of  a  glacier  that  wo 
saw  covering  about  latitude  80*^  30'  cast  side  the  strait,  and 
•  extending  in  a  east-northeast  direction  as  far  as  can  bo  seen 
from  the  mountains  by  Polaris  Bay. 

"We  have  found  that  the  country  abounds  with  life,  and 
seals,  game,  geese,  ducks,  musk-cattle,  rabbits,  wolves,  foxes, 
bears,  partridges,  lemmings,  etc.  Our  sealers  have  shot  two 
seals  in  the  open  water  while  at  this  encampment.  Our  long 
Arctic  night  commenced  October  13,  having  seen  only  the 
upper  limb  of  the  sun  above  the  glacier  at  meridian  October 
12.  This  dispatch  to  Secretary  of  the  Navy  I  fim'shcd  this 
moment,  8.23  p.  m.,  having  written  it  in  ink  in  our  snow-hut, 


■wn 


'  'I, 


DEATH    OF   CAPTAIN   HALL. 


717 


tlie  tlicrmometer  outside  minus  7°.  Yesterday  all  day  the 
thermometer  minus  20  to  23^;  that  is,  20"  minus  to  23° 
minus  Fahrenheit." 

"Copy  of  dispatch  placed  in  pillar,  Brevoort  Cape, 
October"  21, 1871." 

Captain  Hall  had  lioped,  when  he  left  the  Polaris 
on  this  jonmey,  to  advance  noilhward  at  least  a  hun- 
dred miles ;  but  lifter  having  gone  about  fifty  lie  Avas 
compelled,  by  the  condition  of  the  shore  and  of  the  ice 
and  by  the  state  of  the  climate,  to  return  and  aAvait 
the  approach  of  spring  for  another  attempt.  He 
reached  the  ship  on  the  24th  of  October,  appar- 
ently in  his  usual  health,  but  was  attacked  the  same 
day  with  sickness  of  the  stomach  and  vomiting;  and, 
taking  to  his  bed,  the  next  day  was  found  to  be  se- 
riously ill.  Dr.  Bessels  attended  him  professionally, 
and  he  recovered  sufficiently  to  leave  his  bed,  to  move 
about  his  cabin  a  little,  and  to  attempt  to  attend  to 
business ;  but  he  soon  had  a  relapse,  became  again  de- 
lirious, and  died  on  the  8th  of  November  1871,  from 
attacks  of  apoplexy,  as  Avas  generally  reported  and 
believed. 

During  his  illness,  Captain  Hall  was  nursed  by  the 
faithful  and  affectionate  Hannah,  and  she  and  lier 
husband  were  greatly  grieved  at  the  loss  of  their  old 
and  well-tried  friend.  The  following  is  her  account 
of  his  sickness: — 

"About  an  hour  after  getting  onboard,  Captain 
Plall  sent  the  little  girl  to  call  me  up.  I  found  Mr. 
Morton  undressing  him  and  washing  his  feet.  Cap- 
tain Hall  was  sick.  He  s])oke  about  being  siok  and 
vomitincc.  I  asked  him  if  he  had  got  cold.  He  said 
lie  felt  well  enough  in  the  morning.     Next  day  very 

sick.    Worse  than  last  night.     I  observed  him  close. 

41 


ii/K'i 


Ml 

I 

H| 

1  .■■■'l| 

i  \ 

I 


r"    i  i'  ' 


■i  p 


m   li: 


718 


JOE  S    STORY. 


He  was  very  sleepy.  He  felt  bad.  Did  not  say 
much. 

"  After  he  had  been  bad  about  the  head  he  began 
to  get  better.  Then  he  talked  about  the  coffee.  Said 
it  made  him  sick.  Too  sweet  for  liim.  AVhen  some- 
thing was  the  matter  with  his  head,  and  he  was  hal- 
looing and  talking,  he  talked  of  somebody  having 
poisoned  him,  but  only  when  he  "was  crazy.  I  do  nut 
believe  any  body  had  poisoned  him." 

Joe,  who  accompanied  Capt.  Hall  to  Newman's 
Bay,  gives  the  following  account  of  his  sickness  and 
death : — 

"I  had  driven  sledge  very  hard,  and  after  supper 
went  to  sleep  down  stairs.  Captain  Hall  did  not  eat 
supper,  but  only  took  cup  of  coffee.  I  did  not  see 
him  that  night.  I  saw  him  next  morning,  Sunday 
morning.  lie  did  not  speak.  He  remained  abed. 
After  breakfast  he  asked  to  speak  to  me.  He  says, 
*  Very  sick  last  night.'  I  asked  him  '  What  is  the  mat- 
ter.' He  says, '  I  do  not  know.  I  took  a  cup  of  coffee. 
In  a  little  while  very  sick  and  vomiting.'  He  Avas 
sick  the  first  time  t^vo  or  three  days.  Complained 
of  stomach,  headache,  and  bone-ache.  After  he  got 
better  I  go  see  him  eveiy  day — (!very  night.  After  a 
whlh^  something  the  matter  with  head.  Did  not 
knoAV  anything.  Perhaps  crazy.  I  tried  to  speak 
him.  He  did  not  know  me.  I  wish  to  stay  with  him. 
Captain  Ilall  called  me  to  stay  with  him.  After  he 
got  better,  I  asked  him  what  made  him  sick.  Tie 
says,  '  I  don't  know.'  Everybody  went  to  l)reakfast. 
1  staid  Avith  him.  I  said  I  was  very  glad  he  Avas 
better.  He  said  'I  have  l)een  sick.  Don't  know 
whether  I  Avill  live  or  not.'  I  asked  him, 'Do  you 
know  Avhat  is  matter  ? '     He  says,  '  I  can't  tell  Avhat 


"iil'l 


m 


91 1 

r     1 

II 


"Vii  ' 


I 

IIS!    ! 


••I'i  I 


if,n 


FUNERAL   OF   CAPTAIN   HALL. 


719 


is  the  matter.  Bad  stomach.  Veiy  bail  stomach.' 
After  getting  breakfast  I  wanted  to  find  out  what 
was  the  matter  with  him.  A  man  came  down  into 
the  cabin,  and  he  said  nothing  to  me  more.  After 
that  Hannah  talked  to  him.  Every  morning  I  was 
absent  seal-hunting.  I  overheard  Captain  Budding- 
ton  talk  about  Captain  Hall.  I  w'anted  to  hear. 
Captain  Buddington  said  he  was  sick  again.  Did 
not  know  me.  Once  in  a  while  he  called,  '  Halloo, 
Joe  ! '  Then  did  not  know  me.  Two  niijhts  he  was 
very  sick.     Died  two  nights  and  one  day  after." 

It  takes  two  days  to  dig  a  grave  with  picks  and 
ice-chisels  and  axes  in  the  flint-like  ground,  and  on 
the  tliird  day  after  his  death,  the  crew,  dressed  in 
their  Arctic  clothing  and  with  lanterns  in  their  lumds, 
bear  to  his  loni?  rest  the  remains  of  their  loved  and 
honored  commander.  The  bier,  covered  with  the 
national  flags,  rests  on  a  sledge  which  the  men,  in 
procession,  two  by  two,  draw  gently  by  the  rope.  Fol- 
lowing the  sledge,  the  Escpiimaux  straggle  on  in 
bewilderment  and  grief  at  the  scene.  The  flag  on 
the  observatory  droops  at  half-mast,  and  the  ice-bound 
■waters  of  Polaris  Bay  shimmer  in  the  clear  light  of 
the  stars  and  in  the  more  fitful  gleams  of  the 
evanescent  Auroras.  At  the  grave,  by  the  light  of 
"  lanterns  dimly  burning,"  Mr.  Bryan  reads  the  fune- 
ral services. 

A  rude  head-board  marks  the  shallo^v  resting- 
place  of  the  lost  explorer.  For  long  months  round  it 
sweeps  the  un setting  sun  in  the  long  circles  of  an 
Arctic  day,  and  over  it  shines  the  Pt)lar  star.  It  is 
fitting  tliat  the}^,  and  they  alone,  should  keep  watch 
and  W£ird  over  the  grave  of  one  who  so  nearly  stole 
from  Nature,  secrets  which  their  eyes  alone  have 
rested  on. 


'^1 


\:n 


iii    .■"wi 


mm  ii: 


iiil,  'i'^i 


I 


I 


i 

:.::::l 

"m 

i     ;      i:-| 

H 

,  1 

1    1 

i"  1 

ijJlJ 

720 


THE   WINTER   AT   POLARIS   BAT. 


Ten  days  after  Captain  Hall's  burial,  the  Polaris 
felt  the  first  real  dangers  of  Arctic  navigation.  For 
forty-eight  hours  a  sevei'e  gale  accompanied  by  a 
snow-storm  swept  from  the  north-east,  and  the  ice 
around  the  ship  began  to  crack  and  the  snow-wall, 
labf^riously  banked  as  a  protection  for  the  winter,  to 
settle.  The  next  day  the  ice  broke  all  around  the 
vessel,  the  snow-wall  sunk  out  of  sight,  and  in  the  ice 
that  crashed  in  about  the  ship  from  the  shore,  her 
J  ' '  anchor  ceased  to  hold.  It  was  a  moment  of 
inter?'^  ■■••nl.  In  the  darkness  of  a  Avhirling  snow- 
stonii  uud  an  Arctic  night,  so  dense  that  objects 
tweMtv  feet  di.^tant  were  invisible,  she  was  drifting — 
drifting,  'ith  ibv^  sloping  Avail  of  Providence  Berg 
full  in  her  lee.  Her  starboard  anchor  rattled  down, 
but  the  Polaris  dragged  two  anchors  as  easily  as  she 
had  one.  Forced  on  by  the  ice,  and  driven  by  the 
moving  hurricane,  the  crew  Avatched  momentarily  for 
the  wall  of  sloping  ice  that  Avas  to  Avi'eck  or  saA^e 
their  craft.  For  tAVO  hours  they  kept  their  Avatcli 
through  the  Avreathing  suoaa'".  The  A^essel  Avas  less 
than  half  its  OAvn  length  from  the  berg  when  the 
great  Avhite  Avail  that  rose  half  mast  high  above  them 
was  discovered  by  the  anxious  ci'caa'. 

Providence  Ber^:  Avas  ao-ain  their  salvation.  Vol- 
iinteers  Avere  called  for  to  moor  the  ship  to  the  berg. 
AVilliam  Linderman,  seaman,  performed  the  danger- 
ous duty.  Cutting  steps  in  the  smooth  icy  slope 
Avitli  a  hatchet,  he  fastened  an  ice-hook.  Other  lines 
were  made  fast  aft  in  the  same  manner,  by  fastening 
heavy  iron  hooks,  Aveighing  seventy-five  pounds,  in 
the  berg,  and  the  vessel  rode  once  more  in  safety. 
Some  of  the  stores  and  three  of  the  sleighs,  one  a 
companion  of  Dr.  Kane,  were  lost  in  the  breaking  ice; 
•^^■'^^mately  the  dogs  Avere  in  safety  on  board. 


-  m 


THE   WINTER    AT   POLARIS    BAT. 


121 


A  week  later  and  another  gale  broke  from  a  di- 
rectly opposite  quarter — the  south-west.  The  iceberg 
to  which  they  had  moored  in  their  peril  seemed 
likely  to  prove  their  destruction.  Ice  from  the  strait 
without  crowded  in  upon  it.  The  immense  mass 
moved  slowly  toward  the  little  steamer  ^vhich  lay  moor- 
ed twenty  feet  from  its  base.  Under  the  enormous 
pressure  the  great  block  of  ice  broke.  It  must  have 
sounded  like  the  crack  of  doom  to  tlie  seamen,  who 
saw  their  only  protection  from  southerly  gales  part- 
inc:  before  them.  Half  of  the  bersc  drifted  on  to  the 
vessel.  The  ice  had  been  piled  high  and  deep  behind 
her  by  the  previous  gale.  There  was  small  chance  of 
moving  shoreward.  When  the  nip  came  she  rose 
bodily  in  the  air.  Foot  by  foot,  her  timbers  crack- 
ing, her  seams  opening,  her  whole  frame  quivering  in 
the  terrible  embrace,  the  Polaris  rose.  A  projecting 
spur  struck  her,  and  the  ship  went  over  till  her  deck 
was  too  steep  to  walk  upon.  There  on  her  beam 
ends  she  lay  the  winter  through. 

The  long  winter  wore  away.  There  was  little  to 
relieve  the  dreary  monotony  of  enforced  idleness. 
The  steep,  sloping  deck  was  roofed  M'ith  canvas  and 
dimly  lighted  by  a  lantern.  Below,  there  was 
warmth,  comfort,  and  comparative  luxury.  No  better 
proof  of  the  thorough  and  careful  equipment  of  the 
Polaris,  or  of  the  excellence  of  the  stores,  and  we 
may  add  of  the  discipline  of  her  commander,  in  spite 
of  testimony  to  the  contrary,  need  be  given,  than  the 
fact  that  the  whole  winter  passed  without  a  case  of 
scurvy.  Some  few  symptoms  were  felt,  but  they  all 
disappeared  under  treatment. 

Without  the  vessel,  silence,  cold,  desolation,  reign- 
ed supreme.     By  the   side  of  the  steamer  rose  the 


^m 


.f- 


J!'' 'I 


...  i''':-;: 


i!  '.  h 


722 


OUTSIDE  THE   SHIP. 


jagged  and  splintered  sides  of  the  herg,  gleaminn- 
brightly  in  the  moonlight,  reddened  by  auroral  flash- 
es, or  standing  white  and  ghostly  under  the  stars. 
Across  the  heaped  and  broken  shore-ice  a  well  trod- 
den jiatli  led  to  the  observatory.  Hourly  oT)serva- 
tions  were  held  there,  and  the  path  was  a  familiar  one ; 
but  when  a  storm  came,  and  the  berg  faded  out  of 
sight,  and  the  whole  atmosphere  was  full  of  driv- 
ing snow  so  fine  that  it  sifted  through  clothing  and 
could  only  be  kept  out  by  furs,  men  staggered 
along  the  familiar  track,  scarcely  able  to  reach  the 
ship,  but  a  few  yards  off.  Near  by  Avere  the  huts 
in  which  the  Esquimaux  of  the  exjoedition  passed 
the  winter. 

The  Polaris  lay  undisturbed  on  her  icy  dock,  but 
terrific  gales  kept  the  strait  ice  in  motion.  Bergs 
were  continually  sweeping  it  clear  of  ice  and  at  no 
time  was  it  closed  by  ice  more  than  a  few  weeks  old. 
The  entire  mass  showed  clear  signs  of  a  drift  south- 
ward. This  fact  and  the  drift-wood  discovered  in  a 
Journey  afterwards  undertaken,  prove  that  Smith 
Sound  and  the  chain  of  straits  above  it,  all  communi- 
cate at  length  with  open  water.  To  reach  this,  if 
possible,  in  boats  was  now  the  object  of  the  exj)lorers. 

The  work  was  begun  promptly.  In  the  darkness 
of  the  last  week  in  January,  Dr.  Bessels  pushed  to 
the  north  in  a  sledge  with  eight  dogs  and  two  mem- 
bers of  the  crew.  Nine  miles  away  they  were  checked 
by  an  ice-bound  cape,  which  they  could  not  climb, 
and  returned,  having  noted  only  that  the  ice  in  the 
strait  was  drifting  loosely  in  the  current.  The  next 
day  another  party  made  an  attempt  along  the  mount- 
ain chain,  but  with  equal  ill-success.  The  steep  ice- 
clad  cliffs  could  not  be  scaled.     It  was  too  plainly 


>■' 


RETURNINO   DAY. 


723 


the  niglit  when  no  man  can  work.  They  must  wait 
for  dayliglit. 

A  mouth  later,  February  28th,  as  noon  drew  near, 
there  came  a  glad  cheer  from  the  little  company. 
For  a  hundred  and  thirty-four  days  they  had  timed 
the  hours  by  their  watches,  by  the  stars,  by  the  moon, 
by  everything  except  daylight;  and  now  the  stars 
faded  utterly  away,  and  the  sun  rose  over  the  glisten- 
ing peaks  of  the  mountains  that  had  fringed  for  a 
month  past  the  twilight  of  the  coming  day.  In  a 
few  moments  the  sun  was  gone.  But  the  long  dark- 
ness was  over.  The  greatest  extreme  of  cold  was  yet 
to  come ;  there  were  yet  four  months  of  weary  wait- 
ing in  the  ice;  but  henceforth  daily  the  sun  rose 
above  the  horizon,  and  the  diaries  and  conversations 
of  the  men  all  take  a  more  cheerful  turn. 

Early  in  March  Hans  patience  was  rewarded  by  a 
seal,  and  before  April  was  gone  nearly  all  the  game 
had  returned.  Strangely  enough  the  musk-oxen  came 
from  the  north-west.  These  animals  were  smaller  than 
those  found  in  Labrador,  and  without  the  strong  musky 
smell  which  makes  their  flesh  unpalatable.  With  their 
long,  shaggy  hair  and  short,  sharp  horns,  they  seemed 
formidable  antagonists,  and  generally  adopted  the 
same  tactics  which  they  use  when  attacked  by  wolves. 
Standing  in  j)airs  they  would  rush  forward  a  few 
feet  towards  the  hunters,  and  then  spring  back  again. 
When  one  fell  the  other  defended  him,  till  he  too 
.was  struck  down  by  a  bullet.  As  spring  advanced 
they  were  found  with  their  calves,  but  the  young 
were  rarely  perceived  till  the  dams  were  shot  down, 
as  they  took  refuge  when  attacked  directly  under  the 
older  animals,  and  were  entirely  concealed  by  the 
long  hair  which  came  to  the  ground.     Several  bears 


7t.  lii 
il'li,.:!! 


;l!lrnii|J{l 


>|i,illjlili:|  II' 


It'' 


H?iii; 


I'll 


i%' 


I;:, 


liai 


724 


BEAR    nUNTIXO. 


were  killed,  all  smaller  than  their  hrethren  of  South- 
ern  Greenland.  The  tenacity  of  life  which  the  do^s 
displayed  was  wonderful.  Caught  uj)  Ly  an  enraged 
bear  and  flung  against  clumps  of  ice,  stunned, 
and  left  for  dead,  they  were  sure  to  limp  into  camp 
the  next  day,  hut  little  the  worse  for  the  experience. 

Three  exploring  expeditions  were  undertaken — two 
on  sledges  and  one  by  boat.  The  first  in  April, 
comprising  Dr.  Bessels,  Mr.  Bryan,  Hans  and  Joe, 
pushed  forty  miles  to  the  south,  and  linked  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  "  Polaris  "  with  those  of  the  "  Advance." 

Drawn  by  eight  powei-f  ul  wolfish  dogs,  the  explorers 
pushed  on  till  stopped  l)y  open  water  along  the  shore, 
and  by  the  steep  coast.  Two  fiords  were  passed  and 
mapped  to  their  termination.  These  deep  and  nar- 
row indentations  of  the  sea  are  as  prominent  a  feat- 
ure of  the  Greenland  as  of  the  Norwegian  coast. 
The  two  explored  were  surrounded  by  glaciers  and 
filled  with  icebergs.  Their  sides  rose  steeply  from 
the  water,  often  to  a  height  ofiiearly  seven  hundred  feet. 
These  lake-like  inlets  are  of  rare  beauty  and  of  pecu- 
liar geological  interest,  but  were  a  serious  bar  to  the 
rapid  exploration  of  the  coast.  A  month  later  a 
double  expedition  was  sent  northward  to  survey 
Newman's  Bay  and  search  for  open  water. 

On  shore  the  snow  was  rapidly  melting,  and  the 
valleys  and  ravines  were  rushing  torrents  of  water. 
Dangerous  crevasses  in  the  glaciers  which  must  be 
crossed  made  further  travel  by  sleighs  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Journeys  with  boats  were  therefore  attempted, 
and  it  is  scarcely  possil)le  to  exaggerate  the  pluck 
and  persistence  exhibited  therein.  One  party  had 
encamped  for  the  night  on  an  ice-field  a  mile  from 
shore,   when    they    were    suddenly    awakened    by 


m 


nitli. 


1  the 

water. 

List  be 
qiies- 
pted, 

pluck 

had 

from 

by 


EXCUU8I0NS  TO  THE  NORTH. 


725 


another  fiehl  drifting  down  on  thenv.  In  an  instant 
tlie  smooth  field,  on  wliich  tliey  wore,  seamed  and 
cracked  in  every  direction.  Hummocks  sj)rang  up 
under  tlieir  feet.  Great  cakes  of  ice  rosi;  twc^nty, 
thirty  feet  in  the  air,  and  fell  with  a  (U'afcnin^-  crasli. 
The  ice  opened  and  the  party  wei'e  separated,  two  on 
one  piece,  while  the  boat  and  crew  were  on  another. 
In  anotlier  instant  the  boat  itself  lay  flat  beneath 
a  fragment  of  an  iceberg  wliich  had  moved  into  the 
field.  Nothing  daunted,  the  l)arty  returned  to  the 
vessel,  and  in  four  days  were  afloat  in  a  canvas  boat. 
For  two  weeks,  the  two  crews  of  four  men  each, 
accompanied  by  Tyson,  Chester,  Bessels,  and  IVIeyers, 
continued  their  dangerous  work. 

It  was  the  old,  old  story  of  Arctic  adventure. 
Leads  opening  to  close  again  in  a  short  time.  A  few 
miles  of  northing  gained  by  hard  rowing  and  an 
encampment  made,  only  to  find  in  the  morning  that 
the  whole  floe  had  been  drifting  south.  The  melting 
ice  was  covered  with  water,  and  their  sleeping! )ags 
were  nightly  soaked.  The  fuel  was  so  nearly 
exhausted  that  coffee  could  be  prepared  but  once  a 
day,  and  the  pemmican  and  preserved  meat  were  eaten 
cold.  Ceaseless  care  was  needed  to  preserve  the 
boats  from  a  second  accident.  Often  the  lives  of  the 
party  would  hang  on  the  few  minutes  of  rowing 
needed  to  reach  some  safe  sheet  before  the  pack- 
ice,  drifting  down  on  them,  had  crushed  boat  and 
crew. 

Two  of  the  party  returned  to  the  ship  June  27th, 
to  obtain  provisions.  They  found  her  sinking.  Steam 
pumps  were  running  sixteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four  to  keep  her  afloat.  In  May,  when  the  ice  first 
began  to  melt,  she  had  begun  to  leak,  and  ever  since 


'ii>' 


.L iilijfi 

I'"' 

''i     -  'ill 

'  :         v'  ' 

'It  ,.,.: 


^' 


rm 


■''(II  j 

i 


726 


EXCUR9I0NB   TO   THE    NOUTn. 


seemed  to  fill  as  she  settled.  She  soon  floated  freely, 
and  her  condition  inipi'oving,  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
was  made  to  run  to  the  north  to  take  on  the  boats. 
Hans  was  then  sent,  with  orders  to  the  excursionists 
to  return  as  soon  as  possible ;  but  it  M'as  three  weeks 
before  all  had  come  back. 

On  the  14th  of  August,  the  Polaris  turned  home- 
ward. The  voyage  up  had  been  accomplished  in  a 
week ;  it  was  to  be  eight  months  before  even  a  part 
of  the  8hi2)'s  crew  would  be  rescued  from  the  ice. 
August  passed,  September  Avore  away  day  by  day, 
October  was  half  ov^er,  and  the  good  ship  still 
fought  a  vain  battle  with  ice-floes  and  bergs.  She 
entered  leads  only  to  have  her  timbers  strained  by 
nips.  The  young  ice  encased  the  vessel,  and  no  open- 
ing came  through  the  floes  beyond.  The  ship  steadily 
became  more  unseaworthy.  Preparations  were  made 
for  leaving  her  at  an  instant's  notice. 

On  the  night  of  the  IStli  of  October  1872,  in  about 
latitude  70*^  35',  during  a  violent  gale  of  wind  and 
snow,  the  Polaris  was  beset  by  a  tremendous  pressure 
of  ice,  which  was  forced  under  her  and  finally  threw 
her  over  on  her  beam  ends.  Captain  Buddington 
ordered  the  provisions,  stores  and  materials,  which 
had  been  previously  arranged  in  readiness  on  the 
deck,  to  be  thrown  overboard  on  the  ice,  and  directed 
that  Tyson  and  half  the  crew  should  go  upon  the  ice 
and  carry  these  stores  upon  a  thicker  part  of  the  floe, 
where  they  would  be  comparatively  safe.  He  also 
sent  all  the  Esquimaux  with  their  kayaks  out  of  the 
ship,  and  lowered  the  two  remaining  boats  upon  the 
floe.  While  thus  engaged,  in  the  darkness  of  an 
Arctic  night  and  in  the  midst  of  a  fierce  gale,  the 
hawsers  of  the  Polaris  failed  to  hold  her,  and  she 


DESERTED    BY   THE    I'OLATlIfl. 


7i27 


broko  adrift  from  tho  floo  and  in  a  fow  minutes  was 
out  of  sight  of  tlio  party  on  tlie  ice. 

At  the  time  of  tliis  involuntary  separation  there 
were  nineteen  persons  on  the  ice,  but  some  of  tlie  men 


an( 


I  a  L 


U'ije  snare  ( 


of  th( 


provisions  wei'c  on  ])ieees  ot 
men  were  all  secured, 


ice  separate  from  the  floe.  T 
but  much  valuable  food  was  lost.  The  party  on  the 
floe  rolled  themselves  up  in  musk-ox  skins  and 
passed  tho  night  as  best  they  could.  Captain  Tyson 
ke2)t  guard,  and  walked  the  ice,  watching  anxiously 
for  the  morning  and  looking  eagerly  for  the  Polaris. 
The  morning  came,  but  with  it  came  uo  sign  of  the 
ship. 

The  uext  day  the  party  made  several  attempts  to 
reach  the  land,  with  the  boats,  but  failed,  notwith- 
standing their  most  persistent  efforts,  owing  to  the 
obstruction  of  the  ice  and  the  violence  of  the  wind. 
During  this  day  the  Polaris  came  in  sight  to  the 
northward,  apparently  coming  toward  the  floe  under 
steam  and  sails.  A  blanket  was  hoisted  on  an  oar, 
and  displayed  from  the  top  of  a  hummock,  and  other 
signals  made  to  attract  the  attention  of  Captain  Bud- 
dington,  and  strong  hopes  were  entertained  by  the 
shipless  mariners  that  they  wouhl  be  rescued.  They 
were  doomed  to  disappointment.  The  Polaris  ap- 
proached so  near  that  they  couhl  distinguish  her 
escape-pipe,  and  they  j^lainly  saw  her  down  to  lier 
rail ;  but  she  altered  her  course  and  disappeared 
behind  an  island.  Again  in  the  course  of  the  day 
the  Polaris  was  discovered  with  her  sails  furled, 
apparently  at  anchor  near  an  island.  It  was  very 
natural  that  Tyson  and  his  party  in  their  desperate 
circumstances,  should  conclude  that  Buddington  was 
either  over  cautious  as  to  his  own  safety  or  indiffer- 


111 


;v'l 


■  I 


'Ill: 


iil'-  ■-■■ 


,-thi 


Y28 


THE   DRIFT   SOUTIIWAKD. 


ent  to  theirs,  l)nt  it  must  be  rememl)ere(I  that  tlie 
Pohiiis  was  in  a  leaking  condition  and  Avithout  a 
Bingh^  boat  of  any  kind,  while  the  ice-bound  company 
liad  two  boats,  the  kayaks,  and  a  scow  in  their  posses- 
sion. 

Shortly  after  the  Polaris  had  been  sighted  a  second 
time,  a  violent  gale  from  the  north-east  sprang  up, 
and  the  floe  drifted  away  to  the  southward,  with 
these  nineteen  persons  still  upon  it.  The  floe  was 
originally  of  a  circular  shape  and  about  five  miles  in 
diameter.  Captain  Tyson  estimated  its  thickness  to 
vary  from  ten  to  thirty  feet.  Much  of  its  surface 
was  covered  with  snow  and  there  were  hillocks  and 
depressions. 

Fortunately  a  pretty  good  stock  of  pro\Isions  liad 
been  saved,  and  the  Esquimaux  mad(>  some  snow 
huts  in  which  the  party  lived  and  kept  their  stores. 
These  huts,  four  in  number,  were  l)uilt  in  the;  shape 
of  an  old-fashioned  straw  bee-hive,  about  six  feet 
high,  with  a  hole  at  the  bottom  large  enough  ibr  the 
men  to  crawl  in.  Some  old  canvas  served  for 
a  flooring  on  which  musk-ox  skins  were  plac(?d  for 
beds,  and  other  skins  answered  for  bed<*l<>thes. 
Some  pemmican  cans  were  used  for  lamps ;  seals  fur- 
nished the  oil ;  and  moss,  or  canvas  took  the  place  of 
Avicking.  Mr.  Meyer  made  some  Aveights  out  of  shot, 
and  daily  rations  were  dealt  out,  eleven  ounces  being 
allowed  to  each  person. 

The  discipline  of  the  party  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  of  the  best;  indeed,  Capt.  Tyson  states  that 
there  was  little  or  nothing  that  could  be  called  disci- 
pline. Every  one  did  as  he  ])leased,  and  it  is  not 
strange  that  Hannah,  surrounded  as  she  was  by  ai-med 
and  at  times  hungry  men,  sufl^jred  terribly  from  fears 


I  M 


THE   llESCUE. 


720 


of  what  iniglit  happen  if  tlie  piovisloiis  gavo  out 
entirely.  Still  all  knew  that  their  salvation  depended 
npon  union  and  mutual  eo-o])ei'ation,  and  thei-e  was  a 
diseipline  of  circumstaneeH,  if  not  of  morals  and  law. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  finding  their  iey  (puirters  nuieh 
reduced  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  iloe,  they  launched 
their  boat  into  open  water  and  ])ulled  towards  the 
west,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  gain  the  coast.  At  times 
meeting  ice  too  closely  packed  to  get  thi'ough,  thc^y 
were  compelled  to  haul  the  boat  uj)on  it,  launching 
her  again  as  soon  as  a  had  opened  to  tlui  westward 
or  southward.  In  this  way  they  j)assed  a  month  of 
weary  and  desperate  endeavor. 

Toward  the  close  of  April  their  provisions  were 
almost  exhausted,  and  they  were  one  day  ubsolutely 
reduced  to  less  than  a  biscuit  aj)iece  and  a  mouthful 
of  pemmican,  when  a  bear,  scenting  them  on  the  ice, 
apj)roached  them  and  was  shot,  and  they  Avere  thus 
rescued  from  starvation.  Il(^vived  l)y  this  good  for- 
tune, and  strengthened  by  their  new  sui)ply  of  fresh 
meat,  they  struggled  on  till  the  last  day  of  April, 
1873,  when  they  were  rescued  by  the  Tigress. 

The  incidents  of  this  most  extraordinary  voyage 
of  six-and-a-half  months  on  floating  ice,  as  related  in 
the  diary  of  John  Ilerron,  are  given  in  a  sul)se(pient 
chaj)ter,  and  in  all  the  recoi'ds  of  adventuie  there  is 
nothing  of  greater  interest. 

The  safe  deliverance  of  the  entire  ])arty — men, 
women  and  children — seems  at  fii'st  almost  a  miracle, 
but  is  due  in  a  gi'eat  measure  to  tlie  s})ecial  means  of 
escape  from  danger  which  the  Frozen  Zone  furnish(!s. 
The  friendly  ice-floe  abounded  Avitli  material  for 
building  shelter  from  tlu;  storm  and  cold,  while  it 
drifted  the  castaways   into   the   vicinity  of  passing 


i 

1 

(      ! 

if 

i'lirii  1, 

:^ 

' 

^  .Jill IN''  ; 
,i'i|iM';;;::!r 


'  ,!!''•  I 


i 


730 


JOE   AND    HANS. 


sliips,  and  tlirougli  a  region  where  the  presence  of 
seal  and  other  Arctic  animals  enabled  the  skillful 
hunters,  Joe  and  Hans — to  whom  the  balance  of  the 
])arty  are  indebted  under  Providence  for  their  pres- 
ervation— to  eke  out  the  supply  of  provisions  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  exhausted.  In  any  other 
section,  a  boat's  crew  thus  left  in  mid-ocean  at  such  a 
distance  from  relief,  must  almost  certainly  have  per- 
ished. 


fv 


i;.,n|?.ij 


CHAPTER  XL VI. 

JOURNAL  OF  HERMANN  SIEMANS,  A  SAIL- 
OR OF  THE  STEAMER  POLARIS. 

AjroxG  the  articles  remaining  on  the  ice-floe  at  the 
time  when  the  Polaris  was  separated  from  a  portion 
of  its  crew,  was  a  diary  kept  from  the  commencement 
of  the  voyage  by  Hermann  Siemans.  This  diary  was 
picked  lip  by  the  ice-drift  party,  and  has  special  inter- 
est from  the  wonderful  manner  in  which  it  was  pre- 
served and  as  being  an  intelligent  history  of  the 
expedition — as  far  as  it  goes — by  a  common  sailor  avIio 
had  the  forethought  and  disposition  to  keep  a  record 
of  passing  events.  It  "was  Avritten  in  German,  and 
has  been  translated  into  English  by  E.  R.  Kuobb 
Esq.     The  most  interesting  portions  are  given  below. 

The  spirit  of  dependence  upon  Providence,  and  the 
habitual  recognition  of  God's  mercies  are  noticeable 
throughout,  while  the  petition  on  starting,  breatliing 
the  spirit  of  resignation  to  whatever  might  occur,  is  a 
touching  indication  that  there  was  at  least  one  i)erson 
iu  the  expedition  of  strong  faith  and  fervent  prayer. 

PRAYEll    WTIEX    STATITIXO. 

"  All-k^towing  Fathek,  on  Tliee  I  call  and  pray,  tliat 

Thou  mayest  look  upon  us  in  Thv  mercy  and  may  be 

731 


',>!'• 
/ 

'll 

.... 'ij/'l 

:-/'"■  1 

1 

'■',,       ■ 

i 

! 
; 

I 


m 


>  <i 


•■" '"•':  i 

J    'ill' t 


:■ 

•"",  , 

il 

II 

*M|;,;: 

i 

4 1 

'i 

' '1  m 

732 


JOURNAL   OF   IIEiniANN   SIEMANS. 


witli  US  in  tliis  cruise  to  the  icy  North.  Thou  only 
knowest  Avhether  we  ever  on  earth  shall  see  acrain 
our  beloved,  or  whether  we  shall  soon  lay  down  our 
pilgrim's  staff.  I  pray  Tliee  to  direct  the  hearts  of 
all  of  us,  that  all  on  this  ship  may  always  bow  before 
Thee.  Let  our  eyes  always  be  directed  toAvard  the 
heights  of  Golgotha,  \vhere  Thou  hast  borne  the  bur- 
den of  our  sins.  Lead  us  to  endeavor  to  gain  that 
which  only  is  needed,  that  we  may  all  say  together, 
we  know  that  our  Redeemer  liveth.  Then,  even  if 
the  iceberg  covers  our  mortal  part,  or  the  fierce  polar 
bear  tears  it,  -we  shall  have  Thee,  Saviour,  the  best 
guide  of  our  heart's  ship.  Hear  my  prayer  in  Thy 
great  mercy,  and  for  the  Saviour  Jesus  Christ's  sake. 
Amen. 

June  20tli. — At  C  p.  m.  we  left  New  York,  and  arrived  on 
the  following  day  at  llj  a.  in.,  at  New  London,  where  Ave 
dropped  anchor.  In  the  evening  we  had  divine  service  on 
board,  in  which  quite  a  number  of  members  of  the  Baptist 
congregation  participated. 

July  3d. — We  left  New  London,  with  fine  weather. 

Sunday,  9th. — AVo  had  divine  service  from  11  to  12  a.  m., 
and  Captain  Ilall  promised  to  have  it,  with  God's  aid,  every 
Sunday.  1  was  heartily  glad  that  the  name  of  our  Heavenly 
Pather  should  thus  be  hallowed. 

Monday,  10th. — We  saw  the  coast  of  Newfoundland. 

11th. — Several  heavy  blocks  of  ice  were  passed.  At  noon, 
WG  entered  the  harbor  of  Saint  John's,  in  which  there  were 
two  icebergs. 

On  the  19th,  we  left  Saint  John's,  with  God's  aid  all  Avell 
and  contented. 

On  the  2Tth,  Ave  saAV  the  Avcst  coast  of  Greenland  and  a 
great  number  of  icebergs — some  near  the  coast.  At  3  p.  m.  a 
pilot  boarded  us  in  a  kajak.  At  5:30  p.  m.  avc  came  to  in 
the  harbor  of  Fiskernaes.  Greenland,  Avhicli  I  then  saw  for 
the  first  time,  is  truly  a  sterile,  mountainous  country.    This 


JOUllNAL    OF   IIEUJIANN    SIEMANS. 


733 


all  well 

id  find  a 
3  p.  m.  a 
no  to  in 
saw  for 
-.     This 


Danish  settlement  consists  of  twenty  houses  and  huts,  with 
about  seventy  people.  The  houses  of  the  governor  had  a 
decent  appearance,  being  of  wood;  but  the  huts  of  the  Es- 
quimaux were  composed  of  pieces  of  sod,  with  so  low  an  en- 
trance that  the  people  could  only  creep  into  them  ;  a  few 
M'ere  covered  with  seal-skin;  the  interior  looked  very  ]>oor. 
The  natives  live  almost  entirely  on  tish;  they  are  (luite  intel- 
ligent, and  there  is  more  brotherly  love  between  them  than 
in  many  Christian  communities.  Their  garments  are  made 
of  seal  and  reindeer  skin ;  their  boots  are  generally  lined 
with  feathers.  The  women  wear  jackets  and  pants  like  those 
of  the  male,  but  they  are  distinguishod  by  a  l)lack  head- 
cover,  through  the  top  of  which  the  hair  hangs  out  in  a  plait, 
interwoven  with  red  ribbon  ;  they  also  •wear  short  boots, 
while  those  of  the  men  are  long. 

Saturday,  20th. — AVe  left  Fiskernacs  with  beautiful  weather. 
At  four  hours  we  passed  Lichtenfcls,  where  two  (lerman 
missionaries  live. 

July  olst.— AV'^c  entered  the  harbor  of  Ilolsteinborg,  where 
we  counted  sixteen  huts  arid  fifty  people. 

August  ud. — We  left  Ilolsteinborg,  and  in  the  morning  of 
the  4th  we  came  in  sight  of  Disco  Island.  At  2  j).  m.  a 
pilot  came  on  board,  and  at  3  p.  m.  we  anchored  olT  (uxlhavn. 
This  settlement  contains  twenty-seven  houses,  with  about 
seventy  people. 

Sunday,  0th. — Captain  Hall  with  some  of  us  visited  the 
church,  where  also  thirty  Esquimaux  attended. 

10th. — The  United  States  ship  Congress  arrived  from  New 
York,  with  provisions  and  coal  for  us. 

17th. — We  received  some  Esquimaux  dogs,  M'hich  are  to 
draw  the  sleighs  in  our  excursions.  At  noon,  llev.  Xewman 
of  Wasliinifton  and  liev.  Bryan  of  the  Coiii^ress  came 
on  board;  the  former  preached  a  sermon  and  prayed  with 
us.  At  2  p.  m.  we  left  CJodhavn  with  fair  weather,  and 
passed  the  same  day  many  icebergs,  which  compelled  us  to 
change  frequently  the  course. 

On  the  18th,  we  entered  the  harbor  of  Upcrnavik.  This 
settlement  consists  of  twenty-two  houses,  inhabited  by  sixty 

42 


I    Pii 


ii:*'  iffll' 


1' .  1!^ 


■^('M  i  i 


'm 


734 


JOUllNAL    OF   IIKUMAISX    SIEMANS. 


peoi)le.  The  Esquimaux  appeared  more  dirty  tlie  farther 
north  wc  came;  most  of  theui  looked  as  if  they  liad  been 
smoked.  Here  Ilaus  came  on  board,  with  liis  wife  and  three 
children. 

2(ith. — Toward  evening,  I  ascended  a  hill,  where  T  prayed 
some  hours  to  God  and  my  Iledeemer,  and  thoucht  of  niv 
distant  dear.  I  also  visited  the  burial-places,  which  lay  scat- 
tered over  the  mountains,  some  almost  near  the  tops,  where 
it  nuist  have  been  difficult  to  carry  the  bodies.  The  coffins 
of  rough  wood  were  merely  placed  on  the  surface*,  and 
covered  with  rock.  The  weight  of  tlio  latter  had  burst  the 
lids  of  some,  so  that  the  bodies  could  be  seen.  The  Esqui- 
maux told  ns  that  bodies  which  had  been  buried  very  many 
years  appeared  exactly  as  when  buried.  Formerly  the  law 
was,  among  the  Esquimaux,  that  at  the  death  of  the  parents, 
the  eldest  son  inherited  the  property.  It  is  said  that  some 
of  them  have  enticed  their  parents  into  the  mountains,  and 
then  thrown  stones  upon  them,  under  which  they  still  lie 
buried. 

21st. — We  received  on  board  eight  tons  of  coal,  and  niorc 
dogs  and  seal-skins.  At  7  p.  ni.  the  governor  came  onboard, 
intending  to  acconq>any  us  to  Tessui^ak.  At  8  we  left  Up- 
ornavik  with  fair  AV(>athcr,  and  arrived  at  11  oft"  Kingituk, 
where  the  captain  and  the  governor  landed  to  visit  thf*  gov- 
ernor of  that  jdace,  returning  at  one  o'clock  with  twelve 
dogs.  AVe  then  proceeded,  and  cr.me  to  on  the  2:2din  Tessu- 
isak  Harbor. 

24th.— Wc  left  Tessuisak,  the  northernmost  settlement. 
In  the  evening  of  the  2r)th,  we  narrowly  escaped  running  in 
the  darkness  with  full  steam-power  ngainst  a  largo  iceberg. 
In  tlie  night,  from  the  25th  to  the  2(ith,  we  were  surrounded 
closely  by  drift-ice  and  icebergs,  but  with  God's  aid  were 
able  to  work  throuiih  them. 

On  the  27th,  we  passed  the  harbor  where  Kane  wintered  in 
1800 ;  and  at  9  p.  m.  the  winter  harbor  of  Kane  in  1S53  to 
1855  bore  east,  distant  14  miles.  No  vessel  but  our  Polaris 
has  ever  penetrated  farther  north  on  the  west  coast  of  Green- 
land.    Proceeding  farther,  we  encountered  great  quantities 


JOUHNAL    OF   IIERMAKN   SIEMANS. 


735 


of  ice,  through  -wliicli  wo  pushed  oti  north.  At  11  p.  m.  wo 
passed  Cape  Constitution,  the  northernmost  point  readied  hy 
Dr.  Kane,  in  1854,  in  sleighs,  wliere  he  believed  to  have  seen 
tho  open  Polar  Sea.  On  the  2:>th,  we  reached  Capo  Lieber, 
discovered  in  ISOO  by  Hayes,  on  a  sleigh  excursion.  Ko  ono 
lias  ever  been  farther  on  the  (irinnell  Land  side;  here  our 
discoveries  were  to  begin.  The  distance  of  the  coasts  from 
each  other,  in  the  narrow  part  of  the  strait,  is  about  40  in ilc??. 
Tho  land  is  mountainous  and  high.  At  1  p.  m.  fog  set  in, 
and  at  G  we  were  compelled  to  stop  the  engines,  as  we  wcro 
surrounded  by  great  ice-fields,  to  one  of  which  wo  fastened 
the  ship  by  ice-anchors  and  hawsers.  At  7  ]).  m.  the  fog 
lifted,  and  wc  could  see  both  coasts,  when  we  again  started, 
trying  to  press  through  the  ico,  with  which  the  ship  came  fre- 
quently in  collision.  It  was  very  cold,  the  wind  blowing  strong 
from  tiio  north.     AVc  worked  along  throughout  tho  iiigHt  to 

6  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  tho  ;50th,  when  we  saw  iirm  ico 
from  one  coast  to  the  other.  Under  these  circumstances,  it 
became  important  to  look  for  a  winter  station,  but  theio 
seemed  to  be  none  in  this  vicinity.  At  O.oO  fog  set  in  again 
with  snow,  and  we  had  again  to  fasten  the  ship  to  a  iioo, 
where  we  lay  to  7;]-  p.  m.,  when  we  saw  some  clear  water 
near  the  (Treenland  coast,  for  which  wc  directed  our  coui'so. 
Believing  to  sec  a  small  bay,  a  boat  Avas  lowered  and  tho 
place  examined,  but  it  proved  too  exposed  for  tlie  ship.  "\7o 
worked  along  the  coast  until  midnight,  when  fog  compelled 
us  to  fasten  the  ship. 

31st.— Wc  started  and  continued  the  search  for  tho  onliro 
day,  but  in  vain.  At  4  p.  m.  we  directed  t!ic  course  for  tho 
Grinnell  Land  coast,  but  the  ice  prevented  us  from  reaching 
it.     At  5  ]).  m.  we  made  fast  to  a  great  tloe. 

September  1st. — Wo  saw  in  the  morning  a  small  opening 
through  which  we  worked  the  vessel  about  the  distance  of  a 
mile  nearer  to  the  coast,  where  we  had  again  to  make  fast,  as 
we  could  then  not  move  the  sliii)  in  any  direction.     Toward 

7  p.  m.  a  strong  easterly  wind  arose,  setting  the  stream  with 
the  ice  against  us,  the  smaller  pieces  of  the  latter  drifting 
faster  than  the  floe  to  which  tho  ship  was  tied.     This  pres- 


1 

a;! 

1 

;''i 

1      1 

s 

!  i 

i 

I              I 

i^^iiii* 


i« 


,m\     it, 

'  '  if. 
i,;:::;;  Sill  if 


lllflll    :*|      , 


736 


JOURNAL    OF    IIEIIJIANN    SIE.-\IA]VS. 


sure  broke  tlio  hawsers  at  tlie  bow  antl  the  stern,  and  hfted 
one  side  of  the  ship  abnost  bodily  on  the  floe  to  •which  wo 
hiy,  imperiling  her  greatly.  As  the  ice  pressing  from  all 
sides  around  us  had  a  thickness  of  at  least  twenty  feet,  it  be- 
came imperative  to  jirovide  for  emergencies.  Provisions  and 
stores  were  carried  on  deck,  and  guns,  cartridges,  two  suits  for 
each  person,  &c,,  placed  within  easy  reach,  so  as  to  land  (hein 
on  the  ice  in  ease  the  ship  should  bo  crushed.  Townrd  !) 
p.  m.  the  wind  abated,  the  ice  ceased  to  press,  and  remained 
quiet  throughont  the  night.  The  following  day,  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  unshipped  the  propeller,  in  order  to  save  it  from  be- 
ing bi'oken.  At  2  p.  m.  the  pressure  of  the  ice  began  again, 
linge  masses  approaching  the  ship.  All  hands  were  now  cm- 
ployed  landing  provisions  and  fuel  on  the  ice,  in  two  place.'^^ 
so  that  OTie  part  might  be  saved  in  case  the  ice  should  break 
near  the  other. 

Sunday,'  3d. — Divine  service  Avas  attended  to  from  11  to  12, 
as  usual.  The  snow  fell  so  thickly  as  to  allow  us  only  occa- 
sionally to  see  the  coast  of  (rrecnland,  although  it  was  dis- 
tant only  tw'o  miles.  AVe  now  drifted  quite  briskly  south. 
Ship  and  crew  appeared  to  be  a  ready  prey  to  the  ice.  But 
there  is  a  God  Avho  aids  and  saves  from  death ;  to  Ilini  I 
tnisted  between  these  icebergs  and  ice-fields,  although  I  know 
that  I  do  not  deserve  all  the  good  lie  grants  me. 

September  4th. — At  9  a.  m.  open  water  appeared  at  a  few 
places,  Avheu  everything  was  quickly  shipped  again.  At  9.80 
p.  m.  steam  was  ready,  and  we  began  to  Avork  toM'ard  the 
coast  of  Clrcenland  Avhere  the  wind  had  broken  the  ice  and 
caused  an  opening.  At  midnight  Captain  Hall  landed  with 
five  of  \is,  and  planted,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  American  ilag  on  the  land 
which  wc  had  discovered.  We  then  returned  on  board  and 
let  go  the  anchor  at  12.30  a.  m.  on  the  5th  of  September. 
The  place  examined  proved  to  be  but  a  bend  of  the  coast ; 
we  therefore  took  advantage  of  the  open  water  caused  by  the 
easterly  wind  along  the  coast,  and  resumed  our  search  for  a 
harbor  southward,  but  not  finding  any  better  place  we  re- 
turned in  the  evening  to  the  anchorage. 


JOURNAL    OF   IIEllMANN    SIEMANS. 


737 


7th. — Wo  lifted  the  anchor,  and  Hteuniod  about  sixty  yards 
closer  ill-shore,  behind  an  iceber;^  which  had  grotWHU'd  in  13 
fathoms  water,  and  promised  to  protect  us  against  southerly 
and,  in  part,  also  westerly  winds. 

Sunday,  loth. — We  could  not  use  boats  any  longer,  and  in 
a  few  hours  the  ice  grew  thick  enough  to  carry  us  with  the 
food  for  the  dogs,  that  had  been  housed  on  shore.  After 
divine  service,  Captain  Hall  told  us  that  he  would  call  the 
place  Tliank  God  Harbor,  as  the  Lord  had  not  only  carried 
us  through  the  dangers  of  the  ice,  but  also  ])rotected  U3 
against  the  ininiinent  peril  of  an  explosion  of  the  small  boil- 
ers, which  had  not  been  fed  with  water,  through  the  neglect 
of  the  tireman. 

11th. — The  ice  had  grown  so  firm  that  we  could  employ 
the  sleighs. 

The  12th  was  cold,  and  snow  fell,  the  wind  blowing  strong. 
Until  then  the  twilight  had  remained  on  the  southern  hoi'izon 
throughout  the  nights,  but  these  now  grew  longer,  and  soon 
we  would  have,  in  the  midst  of  the  Cireenland  mountains, 
the  long  winter  night.  But  why  should  we  fear  the  darknes.s 
around  us,  if  light  remains  only  in  our  hearts?  Yes,  my 
Lord,  if  1  have  only  Thee,  1  do  not  care  for  heaven  or  earth. 
.  Sunday,  17th. — After  divine  service.  Captain  Hall  enjoined 
ns  to  work  hand  in  hand,  like  brethren,  in  order  to  reach  our 
aim  for  which  we  had  started.  He  said  that  he  Unidy  be- 
lieved it  to  be  God's  will  that  all  of  the  wonderful  earth  not 
yet  known  should  be  discovered. 

ISth. — Dr.  I'essels,  with  the  first  mate,  Joe,. and  ILxns, 
started  on  a  sleigh,  drawn  by  eight  dogs,  on  a  hunting  excur- 
sion. 

On  the  23d,  the  sun  showed  a  large  halo.  At  divine  ser- 
vice, on  Sunday  the  24th,  the  sermon  and  prayer  wci-e  read 
by  Mr.  Bryan ;  they  had  been  prepared  Ijy  Rev.  Dr.  Xew- 
man  expressly  for  the  expedition.  At  2  p.  in.  the  hunting 
party  of  Dr.  Bessels  returned  with  a  musk-ox. 

October  1st.  (Sunday.) — The  gale  ceased,  and  the  weather 
remained  beautiful  throughout  the  day.  After  divine  service, 
Captain  Hall  informed  us  we  were,  from  that  day,  to  assemble 


!i.:i 


jnljl'l 


i'/'M 


'W> 


Ilfirl';::!:. 

' 

(Ill:  '.l, 

:  1 

% 

,    .ii''' 

1 

■lli  'll«li.  > 


ill 


w 


W' 


i*T  '  '  '  t 


I! 


'i    '1 

ItiflMitH 


''  :; ; 


738 


.lOUnXAL    OF    IIKK.MANX    SIK.M  A  X.-^. 


cac'li  inoniinn;  .it  8.30  in  liis  cabin  for  prayer.  ITow  ^oo(]  it 
is  to  Borvo  unilci"  a  coniinandor  in  whoso  heart  the  Savionr 
has  h('min  tlio  work!  AVo  sliould  always  Lear  in  mind  tliat 
each  day  and  each  lionr  carrie-s  ns  nearer  to  the  end  of  our 
pii^^rima^e,  wliere  we  liavo  to  lay  down  onr  stall'.  1  ])riiy  , 
tlio  Lord  to  open  my  eye:i  that  1  may  look  to  IJini  with  spir- 
ited coididence. 

l)th. — After  much  labor  M'c  now  had  carried  all  onr  Ihings 
Balely  on  the  hill.  About  noon  of  this  day,  Captain  Hall, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Chest(,'r,  Joe,,  and  Hans,  started  on  two 
sleighs  drawn  by  sixteen  dogs  on  an  expedition  for  the  pnr- 
jjose  of  rccoinioitering  in  the  direction  toward  the  pole. 

loth — One  boat  had  already  been  transported  to  the  chore; 
we  now  carried  there  a  second,  also  coal,  wood,  and  other 
things,  t^o  that  a  stock  would  be  on  shore  in  case  an  accident 
sliould  happen  to  the  vessel.  Up  to  then  all  hands  were  in 
good  health,  for  which  I  daily  thanked  the  Lord.  Ciod,  I 
pray  Thee,  let  nic  always  be  obedient  to  the  teachings  of  Thy 
lioly  w(n'd  with  ever  greater  cheerfulness.  May  never  doubt 
or  mockery  destroy  the  consolation  alive  in  mv  breast.  Let 
my  whole  life  be  a  j)raiso  of  Thee.  The  earth  is  everywhere 
the  Lord's;  there  is  evidence  even  in  the  highest  Korth  that 
an  almighty  and  all-wise  Creator  has  made  it. 

13th. — AV^e  saw  the  sun  rise  for  the  last  time  in  1871. 

ISlli. — Began  buildiuir  a  snow-wall  aronnd  the  ship. 

2 1st. — We  spread  over  the  ship  a  snow-tent  of  stont"  sail- 
cloth, leaving  oidy  a  small  opening  for  ingress.  Daylight 
shortened  rapidly. 

Tuesday,  the  24th,  at  l.oO  p.m.,  Cajitain  Hall  returned 
with  Mr.  Chester,  Joe,  and  Hans.  Ca})tain  Hall  had  not 
felt  well  f(n'  the  last  three  days,  and  laid  down  to  bed  imme- 
diately. Ho  vomited,  had  cramps,  and  a  violent  headache. 
They  had  encountered  on  the  expedition  severe  cold,  and 
snffered  greatly.  They  had  not  been  able  to  go  farther  than 
fifty  miles  from  the  ship  in  a  iS".E.  direction. 

28th. — It  grew  dangerous  with  the  ca]itain,  his  illness  in- 
creasing steadily.  Prayers  anil  divine  service  were  held  for- 
ward for  his  recovery.     The  prayers  which  I  sent  incessantly 


Joril^AL    OF    lIKIi.MANN    SIEMANrt. 


739 


IV  ffood  Jfc 
I  Saviour 
iiiiid  tliat 
id  of  our 

•  I  ]>niy 
villi  s|)ir- 

nr  tilings 
iiii  Hall, 
1  on  two 
■  tlio  |)iir- 
ole. 

lie  i-liore; 
lid  other 
acfidoiit 
s  wvrv,  in 
God,  I 
^s  of  Tliy 
,  er  doubt 
ast.  Lot 
crywlicre 
orlh  tliut 

BTl. 

P- 

font'  sail- 
Daylight 

rctiinic(l 
had  not 
d  iiiiino- 
leadac'ho. 
3oId,  and 
her  tliau 

lliip?s  in- 
held  for- 
icssantly 


to  the  throne  of  the  iVhni^dity  did  not  satisfy  mo;  I,  ])oor 
sinner,  >vas  anxious  to  knuul  with  him  before  God,  and  to 
pray  for  mercy. 

Nov.  1st. — The  captain  appeared  to  grow  better,  as  lie  spoko 
as  sensibly  as  any  of  lis. 

2d.— The  weather  was  beautiful  and  calm,  although  pcvcroly 
cold.  The  snow-wall  aroinid  the  ship  Avas  seven  to  eight  feet 
thick,  and  of  the  same  height  as  the  snow-tent.  The  snow 
was  carried  to  the  ship  in  sleighs  from  banks  which  foi'iiied 
Bometimes  near  the  ship,  st)metimes  at  a  distance  from  it. 

]S'o\'.  5th. — C'a})tain  Hall  grew  again  worse  ;  in  the  wander- 
ings of  his  mind  he  said  that  somebody  intended  to  shoot  or 
poison  him. 

On  the  7th,  Captain  Hall  lay  in  a  very  miserable  state,  the 
entire  body  being  insensible  to  the  touch.  In  the  evening 
lie  was  entirely  unconscitius  of  what  occurred  around  him  or 
was  done  with  him.  At  o.25  on  the  morning  of  Nov.  Slh.  his 
soul  left  the  mortal  body.  After  his  death  a  coiKn  was  im- 
mediately made,  into  M-hich  he  was  placed  at  -i  ]).  m.  "We 
also  began  to  dig  a  gi'ave,  working  at  it  Wednesday  and 
Tlmrsdav.  The  earth  was  mixed  with  rock,  and  frozen  so 
liard  that,  although  using  axes  and  pikes,  we  could  dig  only 
two  feet  deep.     It  was  done  with  the  light  of  a  lantern. 

Friday,  the  lOtli,  at  II. .'50  a.  m.,  we  placed  the  corpse  into 
the  ground.  Captain  Hall  had  reached,  as  I  was  told,  the 
age  of  iil'ty  years.  His  body  rests  in  the  far  Xorth.  where  no 
civilized  human  being  has  ever  laid  dowji  his  head  I'or  eternal 
rest,  as  the  place  lies  5(i2  miles  Irom  the  North  Pole.  Thus 
his  wish  to  die  in  the  far  North,  and  to  rest  where  he  had 
lived  eight  years,  has  been  fnliilled.  May  his  remains  lie  in 
peace  till  the  day  of  resurrection. 

Sunday,  the  IDtli,  after  divine  service  Captain  I>ord  (llnd- 
dington  ?)  announced  that  the  morning  prayers  would  be  dis- 
continued, as  Mr.  iJryan  was  otherwise  engaged  ;  each  should 
pray  by  himself.  I,  poor  benighted  sinner,  must  confess  that 
I  have  to  contend  many  an  hour  with  enemies  within  myself 
and  outside,  but  hope  does  not  leave  me.  AVlien  kneeling 
far  north  in  a  dark  corner,  or  beneath  the  starry  heaven  on  a 


iiilif  i 


'      I: 


\ 


IHl{ 


f 


!  i''  III 

lilt ,  >"i; 


740 


JOURNAL    OF    lIKK.ArANiV    SIKMANH. 


floe,  I  look  with  coiifidenco  to  the  iiiountaiim  from  which  I 
expect  aid.  Altliou^h  not  bcin<jf  iiblo  to  sliow  a  f>iiiglo  deed 
by  which  I  may  stand  bulbru  the  just  Judge,  1  trust  to  the 
Lord's  mercy. 

Monday,  tlio  20th,  at  4  in  tlio  morninj;,  intending  to  examine 
the  tide-g.uige,  I  was  carried  aw.ay  by  the  storm  and  tlirowa 
upon  the  ice,  whicli  was  covered  witii  water;  only  with  great 
difticulty  could  I  reach  the  opening  where  the  observations 
were  made.  The  snow-drift  did  hardly  j)ermit  ()i)ening  the 
eyes.  It  blew  so  violently  that  the  ship  was  thrown  upon 
one  side,  bursting  the  snow-wall.  At  t)  a.  m.,  ^fr.  ]\[eyer  left 
the  vessel  to  look  for  Dr.  I'essels,  who  had  been  all  night  in 
the  observatory  on  shore;  he  was  driven  back  aljout  twenty 
times  while  endeavoring  to  creep  up  the  hill,  but  linally  reached 
the  house.  Joe  and  Hans  followed,  and  ut  1U..jO  all  four  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  ship. 

2 1st. — At  8  a.  m.,  the  ice  broke  all  arouiul  us,  and  we  were 
in  great  peril ;  the  snow-drift,  besides,  made  it  so  ilark  that 
we  coidd  not  see  anything  at  a  distance  of  live  ])aces.  AV^e 
let  go  the  second  anchor  ;  iievertheless,  the  shi[)  drifted,  but 
luckily  toward  the  iceberg  near  which  we  lay,  and  which  had 
been  named  by  ('aptaiu  Hall,  Providence  Mount.  Some  of 
us  jumped  over  the  few  iloes  between  lis  and  the  iceberg, 
climbed  upon  it,  and  succeeded  in  fastening  threo  ice-anchors, 
to  which  the  shij^  Avas  secured  by  hawsers. 

2.jth. —  In  order  to  bring  the  ship,  which  thus  far  lay  at  the 
extreme  of  the  iceberg,  more  toward  the  center  of  its  long  side, 
where  it  woidd  be  better  protected,  an  oi)euing  was  sawed 
into  the  ice,  through  which  she  was  moved  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet. 

Sunday,  the  2fith,  divine  service  was  held,    but  Captair 
Bord  announced  that  attendance  was  not  compulsory,  br! 
woidd  prefer  that  all  should  attend. 

2Stli. — At  8  p.  m.  a  snow-storm  set  in  froinS.  S.A      which 
soon  grew  violent,  and  at  1  o'clock  had  attained  a  lurco  of 
forty-two  miles  per  hour,  pressing  the  ice  from  the  stnii 
against  our  iceberg,  which  burst  and  parted  in  two  ;  thus 
weakened,  it  was  pushed  against  the  ship,  shaking  her  all 


"' 


JOrUNAL    or    IlKUMANN    MKMANH. 


741 


"'aptair 
'\    ' 

\  Inch 
:,'    of 

i  strait, 
;  tlms 
her  all 


over  and  making  her  erack  in  all  seams.  With  ehl)-tido  the 
shij)  keeled  over  on  one  side,  while  the  foot  of  the  iceberg 
pushed  beneath  her,  so  as  to  raise  her  two  and  a  half  feet. 
She  careened  so  heavily  that  it  was  difHcult  to  walk  on  deck. 
In  this  perilous  condition  it  was  thought  proper  to  carry 
apparel  and  other  stores  on  shore,  as  also  to  place  the  Ks(pn- 
nianx  women  and  children  in  the  observatory. 

loth. — There  has,  i)crhai>s,  never  been  an  expoditiia  the 
niend)ers  of  which  did  live  so  peacefully  as  we.  The  Navy 
Department  had  directed  that,  in  ease  of  Captain  Hall's  death, 
Captain  l>uddingtoii  should  take  command  of  the  ship  and 
Dr.  IJessels  direct  the  scientitic  matters  and  the  sleigh  expedi- 
tions. Should  the  two  disagi'ee,  Captain  J'uddingtoii  had  ♦^o 
carry  the  vessel  home  as  directly  as  possible.  As  long  as 
Captain  I'uddington  held  the  command,  he  treated  evvry- 
body  properly  ;  the  lirst  olUcer  is  also  an  honorable  man,  who 
knows  how  to  handle  people. 

Sunday  the  24th. —  In  the  evening  (Christmas  Kv(>)  all 
liands  were  invited  into  the  cabin,  but  I  did  not  feel  at  home 
there,  ('aptain  Hall  not  being  any  more  in  our  midst. 

On  Christnuis-day,  the  25th,  the  weather  was  iine.  T  was 
astonished  that  there  was  no  divine  service,  but,  1  believe,  in 
America  it  is  more  of  a  least-day  than  a  holy-(l;iy. 

2Sth. — The  ship  still  careen.ed  somewhat  with  the  ri>e  and 
fall  of  tide,  as  part  of  the  ki-el  was  still  resting  on  the  Un>t 
of  the  iceberg.  We  tried  to  break  the  latter  by  blasting,  but 
did  not  succeed,  the  ice  being  too  strong. 

January  1st,  1872. — I  thanked  the  Heavenly  Father,  who 
stood  by  us  last  year  through  so  many  perils,  and  granted  us 
to  live  into  the  new  year,  exce])t  the  dear  captain,  C.  I'.  Hall, 
who  now  rests  in  the  cold  earth  of  (ireeidand. 

24th. — Dr.  I'essels,  Avith  two  of  the  crew,  left  the  vessel  in 
a  sleigh  drawn  by  eight  dogs,  to  ascertain  how  far  the  open 
water  extended  north  ;  they  could  only  proceed  nine  miles 
north  of  the  vessel,  where  the  water  was  still  perfectly  open  ; 
their  further  progress  was  stopped  by  a  cape,  which  they 
c  M  not  i)as8  nor  climb,  as  it  was  too  steep  and  too  much 
c      ered  by  ice.     At  5  p.  ni.  they  returned  on  board. 


, .,  t 


'!ii 


I'lll  lli^ 


l.lil  1!:'  * 


743 


JOUllNAL    OF    IIEII.MA^'X    SDL^IAXS. 


Feb.  28tli — At  noon  m'c  saw  tlic  sun  for  the  first  time  in  1872, 
after  one  luindred  and  tliirtv-eijjjlit  days  of  darkness.  It  was 
truly  a  lon;,^  dreary  niglit  wliidi  we  liad  pnssed,  by  tlie  Lord's 
aid,  in  midst  of  ieebergs  and  ici'-lields.  Tliat  d;iy  I  visited 
Capluin  Hall's  grave,  as  I  liad  iVecpiently  done.  How  would 
lie  have  enjoyed  it  to  sec  again  God's  sun. 

April  8tli — Dr.  Bessel's  party  returned  ;  all  well,  bringing 
as  trophies  the  eareasses  of  a  soiil  and  a  poLu-  hear.  After 
the  examination  of  the  iiord  and  starting  back  north,  Joe  su(b 
denly  siiw  the  hear;  both  jumped  from  the  sleigh  with  their 
rifles,  taki\ig  hold  of  the  dogs,  Joe  of  five,  the  d(tctor  of  throe. 
Jhit  these,  when  they  saw  the  fierce  beast  coming  towards 
them,  could  not  he  kept  liack,  and  luid  to  be  set  loose,  when 
they  at  once  made  furiously  for  the  bear.  After  lighting 
them  fo.r  live  minutes,  the  latter  made  for  Joe,  who  allowed 
it  to  api)roach  within  sixty  ]iaces,  when  he  fired,  I'eloaded 
quickly,  and  with  a  second  ball  linished  the  beast,  which  had 
just  started  for  him  again  after  recovering  from  the  shock. 
Two  of  the  dogs  had  kc])t  back,  but  the  other  six  fought 
bravely  ;  one  of  them  was  thrown  by  a  blow  from  the  ])aw 
of  the  ])owerful  beast  so  violently  against  an  ice-cluni])  that 
it  was  left  for  dead  on  the  place,  but  the  next  morning  it  had 
returned  to  the  snow-hut.  ' 

June  otli — The  ship  rising  steadily  above  the  ice  nnder  the 
iniluence  of  the  warm  weather,  which  now  melted  the  snow 
and  ice  rapidly,  we  discovered  a  dangerous  leak  on  the  star- 
board side  of  the  stem  at  the  six-foot  mark,  where  two  planks 
had  split  from  the  careening  of  the  shi]). 

Oth. — V,'e  endeavored  to  stop  the  leak,  but  could  not  do 
mnch,  ;;s  the  stem  pnjved  to  have  broken  too  deep  below  the 
Avatei"-line. 

lOlh. — Pre]>arations  were  made  for  another  ex]iedition  in 
the  patent  sail-cloth  boat,  and  in  the  afternoon  i)r.  Uessels, 
Capt.  1'yson  and  four  men  left  in  it. 

The  Polaris  we  will  hardly  keep  afloat,  as  she  settles  l)y  de- 
grees deeper  the  more  the  ice  uj^ou  which  the  ship  rests  melts. 
She  now  makes  considerable  water,  .'uid  there  are  ])robal)ly 
more  damaged  places  under  the  bow  beneath  the  water-line. 


JOUIIXAL    OF    IIEUMA^^X    SIIilJIANS. 


^  ±0 


12th. — "\Yc  left  the  sliip  and  reached  at  noon  the  phico  north 
of  Capo  Liibkeii  where  our  boats  stood. 

15th. —  The  strong  wind  having  opened  tlie  water  con f^ider- 
ably,  wo  pnslicd  the  boat  into  the  water  and  rowed  nntil  7 
in  tlie  evening,  wlien  we  readied  the  oilier  party,  Vvliich  had 
left  iMonday,  on  a  great  ice-held,  at  tiie  month  of  Newman's 
]jay,  wliere  tlie  ice  had  liot  yet  broken  np. 

2.'>(1. — In  the  morning  we  at  last  saw,  nortli  of  ns,  a  strip  of 
open  water,  and  left  the  held  iininediately,  but  had  hardly 
roWed  two  and  a  half  miles  when  heavy  pack-i;'o  advanced 
npon  us  rapidly.  As  we  could  not  hnd  in  the  vicinity  an 
ice-field  for  a  station,  the  harder  of  the  iirin  ice  being  covered 
by  packed  ice,  wo  wei'o  coninelled  to  row  back  halt"  a  mile, 
where  wo  met  one,  and  had  barely  time  to  draw  llio  boat 
npon  it.  The  other  party  had  done  the  same  half  a  mile  south 
of  u-. 

20tli  and  2Ttli. — Stormy,  with  snow-sipialls  and  fog,  the  ice 
continually  drifting  south.  As  provisions  became  short  and 
the  fuel  was  almost  entirely  consumed,  li.  Ivriigi^;-  and  I,  at 
Mr.  Chester's  wish,  started  for  an  attempt  of  reaching  the 
ship  by  the  land,  in  order  to  get  more  provisioiH.  We  went 
by  Newman's  Bay,  and  it  was  truly  a  severe  task  to  climb 
over  the  high  mountains  and  through  the  deep  iMviii.'s  where 
the  sharp  stones,  split  by  the  frost,  cut  through  our  Ks(pii- 
manx  boots.  We  made  the  distance,  however,  in  twelve 
hours.  The  ice  in  Polaris  r>ay  had,  for  the  greater  part, 
broken  up.  and  the  vessel  lay  in  o;»en  water,  in  her  old  berth 
close  to  J'rovideiice  ]\Ioiiiit,  which  still  was  aground  ;  but  she 
was  in  a  poor  condition,  making  so  much  water  that  1  he  ]tum])3 
had  to  be  worked  for  sixteen  hours  out  of  twenty-four.  As 
there  were  now,  liesides  the  cook  and  we  'wo,  no  sailoi's  on 
board  able  to  steer  the  vessel.  Captain  l>ii(ldi;igtoii,  would 
not  ])erinit  ns  to  leave  again  ;  he  attempted  to  tak(>  tin*  vessel 
to  theboats,  as  the  water  appeared  to  be  pretty  open.  At 
noon  of  that  day,  the  ice-anchors  were  taken  in  and  tlie  ship 
proceeded  north  with  steam  and  under  sail,  but  \vv,  had  hardly 
made  half  the  distance  to  Xewman's  liay  when  ^lie  was 
brought  up  by  great  ico-iields  and  hea\ily-packed  ice'  drifting 


II!!  il'* 


744 


JOUllXAL    OF    IIEIIMANX    SIEMANS. 


down  upon  her,  Durijig  tlie  niglit  she  waspcrinitted  to  drift 
under  Bhorteued  sail  with  the  ice  in  the  strait  to  the  boiith- 
ward. 

20th. — Tn  the  morning,  we  again  attempted  to  push  on 
north,  but  failed.  At  11  a.  m.  Hans  Avas  landed  at  a  ravine 
north  of  Cape  Liibken,  in  order  to  inform  Mr.  Cliester  and 
Captain  Tyson  that  they  must  come  witli  their  boats  back  on 
board  as  early  as  possible.  The  ship  then  returned  to  Provi- 
dence Mount. 

SOtli. — We  succeeded  by  great  labor,  in  lishing  the  anchor 
which  h;id  now  been  lying  on  the  bottom  for  nine  months 
and  had  imbedded  deeply  into  thf^  mud. 

July  1st. — We  set  Captain  Ilalfs  grave  in  order,  covering 
it  with  stones,  so  that  the  earth  could  not  be  blown  oil",  and 
planting  a  sign-board  with  the  name  cut  in.  That  was  the 
last  we  could  do  for  our  beloved  conunander. 

At  8  p.  m.  Dr.  Bessels  returned  with  Ilansfrom  Isewmau's 
Bay.  They  had  a  hard  travel  for  twenty-seven  hours,  having 
searched  long  in  a  ravine  for  a  place  where  they  could  climb 
up,  but  with  great  ditliculty.  Mr.  Chester,  ha\ing  besides 
Mr.  Meyer  only  two  men,  was  anxious  that  another  sliould 
be  sent  him  ;  but  Captain  Jhuldington  (bought  the  land-route 
to  be  now  too  dangerous,  as  the  water  had  begun  to  pour 
powerfully  from  the  uu)nntains  into  the  great  ravine,  lie 
preferred  another  attempt  to  reach  the  party  with  the  ship, 
startin  ;•  at  midnight  under  steam  and  sail. 

At  1  o'clock  the  wind  chauwd  to  a  i^ale  from  the  X.,  and 
at  2  p.  m.,  not  having  made  half  the  distance,  we  came  to 
the  border  of  ice,  which,  closely  packed,  was  drifting  against 
us.  Th((  coast  was  there  too  steep  to  climb  it.  We  set  sail, 
and  permitted  the  vessel  to  drift.  At  iu)on  of  the  following 
day  we  were  oilf  the  ravine  where  Hans  had  been  landed 
before.  As  one  man  could  ]U)t  go  well  alone,  I  was  sent  with 
liiin.  Considerable  snow  was  still  lying  on  the  nu)unti;i'is. 
We  landed  at  1  p.  m.  with  a  small  sleigh  for  transporting  the 
bread,  fuel,  and  other  snuiU  things  Avhich  the  party  was  in 
need  of,  but  we  had  not  gone  the  third  part  of  tlie  distance 
when  the  sleigh  broke,  and  we  were  compelled  to  carry  each 


JOURNAL    OF   HERMANN    SIEMAN3. 


745 


sixty  to  seventy  pounds  on  our  backs  over  tlie  steep  mountains 
and  tlirougli  tlie  deep  ravines.  It  was  the  most  trying  travel 
I  ever  liad  in  my  lite.  In  some  of  the  ravines  the  water 
readied  ahnost  to  our  arm-pits,  and  we  had  then  to  climb  up 
their  sides  on  our  hands  and  Icnees;  but  with  God's  aid  we 
reacht'd,  at  -t  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Thursday,  the  4th  of 
July,  safely,  the  boat,  after  thirty-nine  hours,  during  thirty- 
eight  of  which  I  had  no  dry  foot.  Since  we  had  left  them 
they  had  no  chance  to  move  either  north  or  south.  We 
carried  a  letter  of  Captain  Buddington  to  ]\[r.  Chester,  in 
which  the  former  stated  that  if,  after  consultation  with  C.iptain 
Tyson,  they  chose  to  contiime  their  attempt  of  pushing  north 
in  the  boats  he  was  not  the  man  to  prevent  it,  but  in  his 
opinion  it  was  preferable  that  they  should  retiirn  on  board, 
as  there  was  better  prospect  to  push  on  north  in  the  steamer, 
should  a  chance  offer,  than  in  the  boats  ;  we  would  then  bo 
able  to  free  the  ship  from  the  water  by  the  hand-i)umps 
instead  of  the  pumps  connected  Avith  the  engine,  the  coals  for 
which  were  almost  exhausted. 

July  5th. — Mr.  Chester  was  anxious  to  reach  in  the  boats 
at  least  the  83d  degree  of  latitude,  from  whence  he  intended 
to  proceed  farther  with  the  sleighs  on  (rritmell  Land,  which 
extended  north  ;  but  Captain  Tyson  preferred  to  go  on  board, 
after  securing  his  boat  and  stores  on  the  southern  coast  of 
Newman's  Bsy  in  a  ravine,  one  and  a  half  miles  inside  of 
Cape  Sumner.  It  took  from  Friday,  11  a.  m.,  to  Saturday, 
9  p.  m.,  to  move  the  boat  with  the  stores  to  the  place  selected 
by  Captain  Tyson,  in  which  two  men  narrowly  escaped 
drowning.  Having  thus  secured  the  boat,  Captain  Tyson's 
party  went  overland  on  board.  In  the  succeeding  night  rain 
fell  some  hours,  for  the  first  time  in  1872. 

10th. — At  4  p.  m.  the  ice  opened  a  little  to  the  southward, 
and  Mr.  Cheater  concluded  to  take  advantage  of  it  for  going 
on  board,  as  there  appeared  to  bo  now  no  chances  whatever 
for  proceeding  north  in  the  boat.  At  0  p.  m.  the  boat  was 
pushed  into  the  water,  and  we  started,  but  had  hardly  rowed 
two  and  a  half  miles  when  we  were  compelled,  on  account 
of  the  drift-ice  besetting  us  again  closely,  to  draw  the  boat 
on  a  small  ice-field. 


IM 


i,.;'^ 


!' 


Rii 


F 


74G 


JOUIINAL    OF    IIKUMANN    SIEMANS. 


13tU. — There  bein;:;  no  prospect  tliut  the  ieo  would  soon 
open  and  allow  us  to  proceed,  Air.  Chester  deemed  it  advisa- 
Lle  to  l;u)d  the  boat  and  stores  by  the  sleighs  and  ttdve  us  on 
T)0!ird  ON'crland.  At  2.30  p.  ni.  everything  was  on  the  sleighs, 
and  we  started.  The  wind  increased  and,  together  with  the 
roughne.s  of  the  ice,  made  progress  so  difficult  that  it  became 
necessary  to  lighten  the  sleighs  ;  we  drop])cd  the  sleeping-bags 
and  some  clothing.  When  half  a  mile  from  the  shore,  wo  left 
the  sleighs  in  order  to  get  the  things  which  we  had  dropped, 
and  land  them  first.  An  hour  alter  midnight,  at  last,  we 
reached  the  land  at  Captain  Tyson's  boat,  thoroughly  wet 
and  almost  broken  down.  To  save  the  sleigh  and  boat  now 
was  inipo?siblo,  as  it  blew  so  violently,  with  snow  and  rain 
gquall:;,  that  at  times  wo  could  hardly  keep  0!i  our  feet.  We 
pitched  the  tents  of  Captain  Tyson,  took  a  scanty  meal,  and 
lay  down.  But  soon  the  tents  were  blown  away.  AVe  then 
lay  down  in  the  boat,  which  had  a  canvas  cover.  There  was, 
however,  but  little  rest  for  us,  as  in  the  morning  (14:th)  the 
boat,  with  everything  in  it,  we  included,  was,  by  a  terrible 
Equal],  carried  a  distance  over  tlie  ground  and  thrown  against 
rocks,  by  whicli  two  ])latdvs  were  broken,  so  that  it  now  had 
a  great  hole  in  the  bottom.  AVe  quickly  jumped  out  to 
secure  it,  but  it  was  caught  by  another  gust  and  turned  bot- 
tom up.  I>y  drawing  a  lino  s^everal  fold  around  the  boataiul 
fiistening  the  ends  to  heavy  rocks  we  finally  succeeded  in 
securing  it.  A  quantity  of  clothing  and  light  things,  how- 
ever, bad  been  blown  into  tlic  water.  We  then  carried  the 
tents  a  di^tance  into  the  ravine,  Avhcrc  we  pitched  them 
under  the  lee  of  the  cliffs,  and  could  now,  at  0  p.  m.,  SL'ck 
the  rest  we  so  badly  needed. 

15tli. — During  the  night,  the  ice  had  parted  entirely  from 
the  coast,  so  that  we  could  not  get  at  our  boat  and  the  sleigh. 

10th.- — We  tried  in  va;!;  to  reach  the  boat.  As  there  was 
no  chance  for  it  before  the  wiiul  would  veer  round  to  the 
north  and  set  the  ice  again  to  the  shore,  Mr.  Che.-ter  directed 
Meyer,  Jandce,  and  Kruger  to  go  on  board,  while  ho  and  I 
remained  to  save  the  boat,  if  possible,  with  the  Lord's  will. 

17th. — Mr.  Chester  and  I  went  along  the  coast  trying  to 


JOIIINAL    OF   HERMANN    SIEMANS. 


747 


find  a  place  where  we  could  get  to  tlic  boat.  At  Ca]ic  Sum- 
mer, Avc  at  last  espied  a  chance  and  suocecdi'd  liappily, 
although  with  great  danger,  in  crossing  the  broken  ice  and 
reaching  the  field  upon  which  our  boat  was  still  standing;  at 
6  p.  ni.  it  was  "gafely  on  the  shore. 

July  22d. — As  the  strait  continued  to  be  beset  by  ice,  and 
our  provisions  began  to  fail,  Mr.  Chester  concluded  to  go 
with  nie  on  board  the  ship,  leaving  the  boat,  with  its  contents, 
where  it  now  was.     AVe  reached  the  ship  at  11. 'JO  p.  m. 

In  consequence  of  the  great  pressure  of  the  packed  ice, 
which  had,  by  the  sonthwcsterly  gales,  been  driven  in  great 
quantities  into  Folaris  J'ay,  Providence  Mount  had,  on  the 
20th  during  the  flood-tide,  parted,  and  the  broken  pieces 
had  pressed  the  vessel  upon  the  strand,  where  at  low  water 
she  had  been  lying  so  much  on  one  side  that  the  water  almost 
reached  the  deck.  But  when  wo  came  on  board  she  had, 
with  (iod's  help,  been  floated  again,  and  appeared  not  to  have 
been  damaged  by  it. 

25th. — In  the  afternoon  Ciiptain  Euddlngton  disconnected 
the  pumps  of  the  engine  and  divided  all  hands,  the  women 
and  children  excepted,  intothrcc  watches,  each  of  i'our  hours, 
for  pumping  by  hand.  Ihit  alter  having  been  a^-hore  she 
made  not  so  much  water  by  far  as  pi'eviously,  some  of  the 
parted  seams  having  probably  closed  again. 

August  12th. — In  the  morning,  the  wife  of  Hans  gave 
birth  to  a  "boy. 

In  the  afternoon  the  ice  began  to  loosen  and  some  strips  of 
open  water  appeared.  At  -J-.40  p.  m.  the  vessel  left  Polaris 
Pay  with  northerly  wind.  We  worked  during  the  succeed- 
ing night,  with  great  difticulty,  through  the  ice  until  8  a.  m. 
of  the  next  day,  when  we  were  compelled,  by  the  density  of 
the  ice,  to  fasten  the  vessel  to  a  large  floe  near  a  small  island 
on  the  (Jrinnell  Land  side.  We  were  now  without  ground- 
tackle.  The  boats  left  at  Newman's  Pay  we  missed  very 
badly.  We  drifted  that  day  with  the  ice  slowly  to  the  south- 
ward, there  being  no  wind,  and  the  weather  beautiful.  In 
the  night,  when  wo  saw  near  us  a  strip  of  open  water  which 
appeared  to  extend  several  miles  to  the  southward,  we  made 


>'t 


il 


nil    ;;i 

1    '■■ 


i 


lift 


IV 


nil  I 


748 


JOURNAL    OF   HERMANN    SIEMANS. 


repeated  attempts,  with  tlie  full  power  of  the  engine,  to  break 
through  the  ice  surrounding  us,  but  could  not  succeed,  and 
had  to  tie  the  vessel  up  again. 

i4th. — At  2  p.  m.  we  passed  Cape  Constitution,  in  latitude 
80"  30'  N.,  and  worked  steadily  on  until  11.30  p.  m.,  when 
the  ice  had  closed  in  again,  and  nothing  remained  but  to  tie 
up  to  an  ice-field. 

18th. — We  still  lay  tied  to  the  same  floe  to  which  we  had 
fastened  on  "Wednesday  ;  beset  by  heavy  ice  in  which  no 
opening  was  visible. 

21st. — At  noon  the  fires  wcye  drawn,  as  both  boilers  leaked 
and  had  to  be  I'epaired.  We  had  now  to  work  the  pumps 
by  hand,  the  ship  making  twice  as  much  water  as  in  Polaris 
Bay,  as  slie  had  received  many  hard  knocks  since  we  left. 

2Tth. — We  had  now  for  some  days  been  almost  stationary, 
probably  because  the  ice  had  packed  in  the  narrow  part  of 
Smith's  Sound.  In  the  evening  tlie  ship  was  towed  between 
the  fields  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

29th.— Beautiful  calm  weather.  In  the  evening  we  again 
saw  a  large  stretch  of  open  Avater.  The  fires  were  instantly 
lighted,  and  we  labored  throughout  the  night  with  the  full 
power  of  steam,  and  besides  all  hands  outside  the  vet^sel  on 
the  ice,  but  could  only  carry  the  ship  within  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  yards  of  the  open  Avater,  where,  at  5.30  a.  m., 
we  were  compelled  to  tie  her  up  again. 

September  5th. — AVe  tried  to  stop  the  leaks  of  the  vessel 
without  success. 

30th. — There  were  this  morning  quite  a  number  of  open 
places  north  and  eouth  of  the  ship,  and  also  near  her  the  ice 
began  to  work  with  great  noise;  but  the  fields  still  incasing 
her  prevented  us  from  reaching  the  opening  to  the  south- 
ward. Since  August  15,  when  we  tied  up  the  ship  to  the 
ice  in  latitude  80*-^  02'  N.,  we  had  drifted,  in  one  and  a  half 
months,  00  miles  to  the  southward. 

2d. — We  were  about  twenty-three  miles  N".  W.  of  Kane's 
winter-quarters,  and  could  see  the  harbor  plainly  in  a  clear 
sky.     The  ice  still  very  unquiet. 

October  3d. — Began  to  erect  a  house  on  the  ice -field  to 


,■<   u 


JOURNAL    OF    HERMANN    SIEMANS. 


749 


wliicli  the  ship  was  fastened,  as  the  latter  was  in  great  danger 
of  heing  crushed,  and,  moreover,  the  winter  now  approached 
fast. 

7th. — Mild,  with  light  northerly  hreeze.  "Worked  on  the 
house,  and  carried  ice  into  the  ship,  which  Mr.  Schumann 
intended  to  use  for  the  small  boiler  working  the  pumps,  as 
the  salt  water  had  crystalized  in  it  to  a  great  extent.  In  the 
afternoon  Joe  shot  a  seal  and  discovered  that  ho  had  been 
tracked  the  day  before  close  to  the  ship  by  a  polar  bear, 
which  the  dogs  had  not  scented,  the  wind  being  against 
them ;  they  are  generally  very  keen  in  this  respect. 

9th. — We  carried  a  store  of  bread  into  the  house.  In  the 
afternoon  one  of  the  crew  saw  a  polar  bear  between  the  ice- 
fields, at  a  distance  of  a  mile  from  the  ship. 

12th. — We  had  a  gale  from  the  N.  E.,  with  cold  temper- 
ature. Much  open  water.  Drifted  more  rapidly  to  the 
south.  We  were  now  about  three  miles  from  the  coast  of 
Greenland. 


:  i-m 


Mi 


I  i 


iif'Ji;, 


43 


!  ;y:: 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 
JOHN  HERRON'S  DIARY. 

John  Herron,  steward  of  the  Polaris  Expedition, 
was  one  of  the  party  separated  from  the  ship  and  sub- 
sequently rescued  by  the  Tigress.  Mr.  Herron  kept 
a  journal  of  the  incidents  and  experiences  of  the  ice 
drift,  which  extended  from  October  loth,  1871,  to  the 
ensuing  May,  and  it  is  in  every  respect  highly  cred- 
itable to  him.  All  the  important  and  interesting  por- 
tions of  this  document  are  given  below  : 

October  lo.  Gale  from  the  S.  AV. ;  t^liip  made  fast  to  floe  ; 
bergs  pressed  in  and  nipped  tlic  .ship  until  ^vc  tlKHij>iit  she 
was  goinu:  down ;  tlirew  provisions  overboard,  and  nineteen 
souls  got  on  the  floe  to  receive  tlicm  and  haul  ilicni  up  on  tlio 
ice.  A  largo  berg  came  sailing  down,  struck  tlie  floe,  shiv- 
ered it  to  ])ieces,  and  freed  the  ship.  She  was  out  of  sight 
in  five  minutes.  We  Avcro  afloat  on  different  pieces  of  ice. 
We  hail  two  lioats.  Our  men  Avere  picked  u|),  myself  among 
them,  and  landed  on  the  main  ilno,  which  we  found  to  bo 
cracked  in  many  places.  We  remained  shivering  all  night. 
Saved  very  little  provisions. 

Oct.  1(J.  The  l)erg  that  did  so  much  damage  half  mile  to 
the  N.  E.  of  us.  rienty  of  open  water.  \Vc  h)st  uo  time  in 
launching  the  boats,  getting  the  provisions  in,  and  pulling 
around  the  licrg,  Avhen  we  saw  the  Polaris.  She  had  steam 
up,  and  succeeded  in  getting  a  harbor.  8hc  got  under  the 
lee  of  an  island,  and  came  down  with  sails  set — jil),  foresail, 

TOO 


JOll.N'    JJ  liUKON  ;i    DIAKY. 


751 


mainsail,  and  staysail.  8hc  must  have  seen  us,  as  the  islanil 
was  lour  or  live  niilcs  off.  We  expected  her  to  sav(>  us, 
as  llierc  was  plenty  ol"  open  waler,  beset  with  ice,  which  J 
think  she  could  have  gotten  throujih.  In  the  evening;  wo 
started  with  the  boats  for  shore.  Had  we  reached  it  we  could 
have  walked  on  board  in  one  hour,  but  the  ice  set  in  so  last 
when  near  the  shore  that  we  could  not  pull  throuuh  it.  Wo 
had  a  nai'row  escape;  in  Junipinu;  from  jjioce  to  pii'ce,  -wilh  tlio 
painter  in  hand,  until  wc  reached  the  tloe.  We  drag-ucd  the 
boat  two  or  thi'ee  hundred  yards,  to  a  hijih  place,  where  we 
thought  she  would  be  secure  until  morning,  and  made  Cor  our 
provisions,  whicli  wci'e  on  a  distant  jjart  of  tlie  floe.  Wo 
were  too  much  worn  out  wilh  hunger  and  latigue  to  bring 
her  along  to-night,  and  it  is  nearly  dark.  We  cannot  see 
our  other  boat  or  our  provisions.  The  snow-dril't  has  cov- 
ered our  late  tracks. 

Oct.  17.  Strong  wind  from  the  S.  E.  Tlie  ice  broke  up 
again.  Our  boat  and  everything  we  have  left  are  going. 
AVe  are  afloat  on  a  very  small  piece,  with  very  little  provis- 
ions left.  It  is  blowing  a  gale  and  threatens  to  be  a  very 
severe  night. 

Oct.  21.  Building  snow  houses;  finished  one;  we  sleep 
in  it  to-night. 

Oct.  22.  Weather  very  thick  ;  snow  falling.  Building 
f'.uow-houscs  for  the  Esquimaux,  and  one  more  for  ourselves,  as 
the  first  is  too  snudl. 

Oct.  2o.  Wilh  the  aid  of  our  marine-glass,  to  our  great 
joy,  wo  discovered  in  tlie  distance  a  boat,  and  at  some  dis- 
tance therefrom,  the  tent.  The  ice  for  a  few  miles  Itctweeu 
lis  and  the  floe  Avhich  they  avr  on  is  very  thin,  but  we  must 
risk  it,  as  we  have  six  bags  of  bread  there,  forty-five  pound- 
cans  of  pemmican,  and  two  dozen  cans  of  moat.  Returned 
to  headquarters  weak,  but  thankful  to  God.  Bejoicing  in  our 
good  fortune,  we  treated  ourselves  to  a  good  supper,  thank- 
ing God  for  our  increase  in  stores. 

Oct.  24.  Four  men  made  another  trip  to  the  tent  to  bring 
some  planks  with  which  to  make  a  sleigh. 


' .  Ili> 


751! 


JOHN    IIKKKON  rt    DIAKY. 


Oct.  25.  Half  of  <lio  niou  have  poiio  to  Ihc  lent  with  tlio 
sled  malo  tliis  inoiuin«^,  (Iriiwu  by  the  d^^s.  Tlio  rest  of  U8 
are  iviniiiniuLi;  hcio  l»y  the  boat  roiuly  to  shove;  olf  in  caso 
tli(;  i(!0  nhouUl  o|HMi.  Evoiihiji;  tho  iiu'ii  irlunicd  wilh  a  slctl- 
lo;nl  of  |)()h.'s.     All  well. 

Oct.  29.  This  inoniiiifj;  voiy  cold  nnd  stormy,  but  clciir. 
The  liiud  lu  sipjht  all  the  tiinc.  We  have  got  our  cook-huiiso 
at  work.     All  well. 

Oct.  81.  Sent  .foe  and  Hans  wilh  a  dog-loiini  to  see  how 
the  ice  will  stand,  as  we  intend  starting  lo-niorrow  for  shore. 
We  have  eaten  as  nnu-h  as  we  eonld  t(>-day  to  get  strenglii 
for  tho  jonrney.  We  have  been  living  very  jworly  so  as  to 
make  onr  j)rovisions  last  six  months. 

November  1.  Started  to-day  for  the  largo  floe  fonr  miles  ' 
distant,  and  one-third  of  the  distance,  I  shonid  say,  to  tho 
shore.  After  a  hard  day's  work  we  sncceeded  in  gelling  two 
boats  and  onr  provisions  olT,  also  one  sleigh-load  of  bed-cov- 
ering, skins,  and  canvas,  and  some  poles  ;  leaving  three  bags 
of  coals,  the  oidy  ones  we  have  left. 

Nov.  2.  This  morning  we  were  snrprised  to  find  the  ice 
open  all  aronnd  ns.  We  started  befoi'o  d.iyliglit  wilh  tho 
dogs  and  sled,  not  knowing  what  had  hap[)ened  nntil  we  had 
nearly  driven  into  the  water. 

Nov.  3.  This  morning  snow-storm.  r>nilding  snow-honsos. 
All  well.  No  chance  now  of  getting  ashore  ;  nuist  now  give 
that  up. 

Nov.  0.  Joe  caught  a  seal,  which  has  been  a  godsend. 
We  arc  having  a  feast  to-night,  tlu'cc-fourlhs  of  a  jiound  of 
food  being  our  allowance.  ]\Ir.  ]Meyer  made  a  pack  of  cards 
from  some  thick  paper,  and  we  are  Jiow  playing  euchre. 
Plenty  of  water  aronnd  us.  We  arc  a  good  deal  further  from 
the  land,  and  are  drifting  south  pretty  smart. 

Nov.  10.  Wind  strong;  snow  drifting.  We  are  drifting 
fast  to  tho  south.  The  west  laiul  is  not  to  be  schmi.  Tlie  l']s- 
quimaux  are  out  hunting.  .loe  has  returned  late  ;  Hans  has 
iiot  come  yet.  Joe  and  Rol)ert  Imve  gone  in  search  of 
him.     He   had   left  the  floe  for  another  one,  and  with  great 


JOHN    IIEIJUON  S   DIAUY. 


V53 


difliculty  found  liis  way  back  very  luto.  Tlioy  saw  him  coin- 
ing, droHsed  in  skins  and  covi'i-od  witli  snow,  and  took  liini 
for  an  icc-bcar  ;  loadvd  llioir  |>istols  and  nuido  ready,  wla-n, 
to  Uic'irjoy,  llicy  found  il  was  Hans. 

Nov.  10.  (Jalni,  ))ut  Oiick.  Joo  saw  iliroo  seals  ycstiM'- 
day,  and  a  fox  track,  l)nt  got  n(tMiin.i>'.  \Vc  liavo  notiiing  to 
A!C(l  our  dogs  on;  tlicy  got  at  tli(.'  |)i'i»vision  to-day  ;  wo  shot 
five,  Univing  four;  shot  some  two  weeks  since.  Lining  our 
new  hut  with  canvas. 

Nov.  til.  'J'h(!  natives  caught  two  seals;  tlicy  shot  three, 
l)ut  lost  one  of  them  in  the  young  ice.  W'r  iuo\C(|  into  our 
new  house  to-day.  We  shot  tw<i  dogs — they  got  at  oin*  pro- 
visions ;  we  hav(!  two  left. 

Nov.  28.  Thanksgiving  to-day  ;  we  hav(^  had  a  fcasl  — 
four  pint-eaus  of  moek-turlle  soup,  six  pint-cans  of  green  coni, 
made  inio  scouch.  Aflernoon:  three  ounces  of  hrciul  nud 
the  last  of  our  chocolale  ;  our  day's  I'cast.     All  well. 

December  1.  Oalm,  Imt  little  liuht.  This  month  out  and 
"we  can  hope  for  the;  liesf,  its  daylight  will  liegin  to  como 
upon  us.  Fred  saw  the  hear  to-day,  hut  being  alone  dared 
not  go  for  him. 

Dee.  2.  ]5oiled  some  se;d-skin  to-day  and  at(!  it — blubber, 
hair,  and  tough  skin.  Tbe  men  ab'  il  ;  I  could  not.  The 
hair  is  too  thick,  ami  \\v.  havi^  no  nutans  of  getting  it  oli'. 

Dec.  5.  The  fox  came  too  near  to-day  ;  I'ill  I/mdeniann 
shot  him  ;  skinned  and  cut  him  up  for  eotjking.  Fox  in  this 
country  is  all  hair  and  tail. 

Dec.  ().  'JMie  i)oor  fox  was  dcvoin-ed  to-day  by  seven  of  the 
men  Avho  liked  it ;  they  had  a.  mouthful  each  for  their  share  ; 
1  did  not  think  it  worth  whiUi  myself  to  (.'onnnencc!  wiili  so 
snudl  an  allowance,  so  I  did  not  tiy  Mr.  Fox. 


Dec.  7.     If  we  keep  (Hi  this  way  we 


AVI  I 


ne  oi 


]■  (h(!  iJ.nnd 


of  Disco  in  Jlari'li.  All  in  good  health.  'J'he  only  lliiiig  fli:it 
troubles  us  is  hunger;  that  is  very  severe.  V\c  feel  loiue- 
times  as  tliotigh  w(>  could  eat  each  other.  Very  weak,  but 
please  God  we  will  weather  it  all. 


ill"  i  i 


ill: ' 


I  1! 


704 


JOHN'    IIKIJHON  M    DIARY. 


Dec.  13.  ITans  catiglit  a  small  while  fox  in  a  Irap  yeslor- 
tlay.  The  iiigiita  are  hiilliaiit,  cold,  and  clear.  The  scene  is 
chiiriuinji^,  if  we  were  oidy  in  a  position  to  iippreeiate  it. 

J)ec.  -0.  Joe  I'onnd  a  craclc  yesterday,  and  three  scmIs. 
Too  darlv  to  slioot.  It  is  a  f>'ood  ihiiij;'  to  liavi;  uiinn;  niidcr- 
nealh  ns.  It  wonld  he  ninch  better  to  have  tiiem  on  the  Hoc, 
for  starvini^;  men.  To-niurrow  will  be  onr  choicest  day — Iheu 
the  snn  retnrns. 

Dec.  21.  To-day  clear;  light  wind.  The  shortest  day,  so 
cheer  np !  In  three  weeks  we  will  have  daylight.  Then  we 
hope  to  catch  game. 

Dec.  '22.  Calm  and  clear  as  a  hell ;  the  host  twilight  wo 
Inive  seen  for  a  month.  It  ninst  have  been  clotuly,  or  we  arc 
drifting  S.  fast.  Our  spirits  are  up,  hut  the  boily  weak;  15° 
below  zero. 

Dec.  2.").  This  is  a  day  of  jnhileo  at  home,  and  certainly 
here  for  ns  ;  for,  beside  the  approaching  daylight,  which  we 
feel  thankful  to  (!od  for  spai'ing  ns  to  see,  we  had  (piite  a 
feast  to-day. 

Dec.  21).  Joe  shot  a  seal,  which  is  a  godsend,  as  we  are 
pretty  weak.  It  is  breezing  np  strong.  We  have  had  a  good 
supper  ;  thank  God. 

January  1, 18T;>.  Cloudy;  no  water;  20''  below  zero. 
Poor  dinner  for  New- Year's  Day — mouldy  bread  and  short 
allowance. 

Jan.  8.  Twenty-three  degrees  helow  zero ;  very  cloudy ; 
strong  wind  ;  cannot  leave  the  hut. 

Jan.  5.  To-day  fell  in.  with  two  hear-traclcs,  hut  cannot 
find  them.  If  we  could  kill  one  of  these  fellows  it  would 
set  us  all  right. 

Jan.  7.  Light  wind.  Mr.  Meyer  took  an  observation  last 
night ;  latitude  72°  7';  longitude  60°  40'  45'.  The  nc,/s  was 
so  good  that  I  treated  myself  to  an  extra  pipe  of  tobacco  at 
12  o'clock  last  night.  The  tobacco  is  getting  very  short,  so 
that  I  have  to  be  very  saving  this  month.  We  arc  obliged 
to  cook  our  meals  with  a  lamp — pretty  slow  work.  Good 
northern  lights  last  night. 


.JOHN    1II:HK().N  8    DIAUV. 


10'} 


.laii.  8.  Lijilil,  Aviiul  ;  lit»'^  hdow  /.(mo.  No  wutcr  yet. 
TliUis's  Utile  \my  has  liccii  vi'iy  poorly  lor  soiiu!  liiuo  Imck.  1 
liojii'  lio  will  ji('t,  lictd'i'  Koon. 

Jan.  I.').  JJlowiiiji^  u  ^•al(\  Snow  (lririiii<^  vciy  l)a(lly. 
Our  ilog.s  liad  iiii  I'lu-oiiiilcr  with  two  licais.  One  ol"  (he  ilogn 
got  cut  when  Home  (listance  IVoni  the  lln(>. 

Jan.  10.  No  wiud  ;  very  thick.  The  ^la.^s  rautjes  (Voni 
2G°  to  0!'°  below  zero.  JIaus  einidit  a  seal  to-day;  (hank 
(lod  !  lor  we  were  very  weak.  Our  lij-ht  woujd  havi'  heeii 
liuished  to-morrow,  and  our  eookin<''  also.  JJut  (lod  sent  thi.s 
Keal  to  wave  us ;  thaid<s  to  His  lioly  uauie  !  It  lias  been  so 
all  the  time.  Just  as  we  were  |»layed  out  souielhini;  cauie 
iilon<i^.  I  am  afraid  I  have  a  touch  of  tho  scurvy.  A  little 
raw  meat  will  drive  It  out,  1  ho[)e.  Ila'is's  lioy  is  110  bettor. 
I  hope  it  will  do  him  good  also. 

Jan.  10.  Clear ;  li^lit  wind  ;  89°  below  zero.  The  sun 
has  made  his  appearance  to-day.  I  gave  him  three  cheers, 
lioi)iug  we  may  be  able  to  start  a  month  from  now.  Thank 
(Jod  for  this  tlay  !  we  have  long  wished  to  see  it.  Tin;  sun 
has  brought  us  luck  in  the  way  of  a  seal  Joe  caught.  Tho 
finest  display  of  northern  liglils  that  I  ever  saw  came  off  to 
night.  They  had  to  go  about  six  miles  to-day  to  open  water, 
where  they  saw  many  seals. 

Jan.  20.  Wc  have  not  seen  the  E.  shore  yet.  I  hope  to 
sec  tho  island  of  Disco;  the  land  is  very  high  there,  but  I 
am  afraid  we  will  drift  past  it.  We  cannot  help  ourselves, 
however.  We  are  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  I  am  thankful. 
Uans  shot  a  dovekie.     1  hope  ho  will  give  it  to  his  boy. 

Febniary  4.  A  gale  from  the  W.  ;  very  thick  snow-drift. 
I  seldom  see  it  snow  hero,  for  when  it  is  blowing  luird  the 
snow  cojues  like  tlour  with  the  wind.  Whether  the  snow 
tails  or  the  wind  takes  it  np  fi'oni  the  ice  I  cannot  tell,  liut  it 
is  so  fine  and  thick  you  cannot  sec.  There  is  no  leaving  the 
hut  in  such  wea!her,  as  the  snow  is  always  either  diifting  or 
falling  with  the  blow,  no  matter  from  what  quater.  Then 
there  is  no  going  out,  as  it  fills  tho  ice  and  will  i)oneiratc  al- 
most anything.     The  temperature  to-day  has  been  from  16"* 


I'ii 

1: 


if 
liii'i ' 


■  11 


ijljt.  ! 


756 


JOHN    HEKKON  S   DIARY. 


to  10°  below  zero.  All  arc  well,  iliank  God,  but  mo.  I  liavo 
a,  sli,t;lit  toiicli  of  the  .scurvy,  and  I'ccl  very  ailing,  but,  please 
God,  it  will  soon  leave  nic. 

Feb.  14.  Very  .strong  Avind;  thick,  and  snow  drifting. 
Wc  are  having  a  long  spell  of  bad  weather.  Hans  oanght  a 
seal  to  day,  which  will  give  us  another  meal.  Saw  a  fox  to- 
day near  the  huts,  but  not  near  enough  to  got  a  .shot  at  him. 
Joe  hit  three  unicorns  to-day,  but  1  am  afraid  our  chance  to 
get  one  is  small. 

I'eb.  Id.  Saw  plenty  of  whales  :  Avish  they  would  take 
their  departure  ;  they  frighten  the  seals  away  which  wc  are 
now  so  badly  in  want  of;  (;ur  j)rovisioiis  are  gf^tting  very  low. 
When  you  take  a  glass  anil  look  round,  you  see  the  ice  in  the 
distance  piled  up  as  high  as  a  ship's  mast,  so  that  it  seems 
impossible  to  travel  over  it — certainly  not  with  a  boat — and 
no  land  to  be  seen  yet.  Wo  Avant  water  to  escape,  and,  please 
God,  we  will  get  it  \  ,icn  the  time  comes.     All  well. 

Feb.  19.  The  welcome  cry  this  morning  was  "  Land  ho  !" 
to  westward.  Cape  Walsingham.  Now  wc  will  be  out  of  the 
narrows.  The  straits  commence  to  widen  here  so  that  we 
can  travel  S.  fast  if  wc  cannot  reach  land. 

Feb.  20.  Water  around  ;  cannot  see  land.  The  seals  are 
very  scarce  here.  Wc  must  soon  get  a  good  lead  of  water 
running  in-shore,  and  so  escape,  or  kill  plenty  of  seals  to  live 
on,  else  our  time  in  this  world  will  lie  short.  ]>ut  God's  AviU 
be  done. 

Feb.  24.  Land  is  twenty  miles  off,  I  should  say,  and  we 
appear  to  be  leaving  it.  ^ly  advice  is  to  start  for  it: — making 
a  sleigli  out  of  some  spare  skins,  loading  it  with  ]-»rovisions 
and  clothing,  and  the  kayak  to  ferry  us  across  the  cracks; 
also,  ammunition  for  hunting  purposes  when  we  get  on  shore. 
By  that  means  we  could  leave  (he  boat  and  travel  light,  for 
it  is  my  opinion  that  we  will  never  get  tiu^  boat  over  tiic  ice 
any  distance.  We  seem  to  have  left  the  sealing-ground.  Wc 
caanot  catch  anything  to  speak  of.  and  we  have  only  three 
weeks'  provisions  left.  Ca[)tain  Tyson  and  some  of  the  men 
are   alVa'.d  to  venture   i'l-shore,  and  unwilling  to   leave  the 


f. 


l("'  ■  I' 

I'    ■  1 


JOHN    IIElUiO-N  rf    DIAUY. 


757 


boat;  so  "wc  have  niade  up  our  min(U  to  slay,  como  down  iu 
our  provisions,  and  irust  in  Go:',  hopin.ii;  ^vo  may  drift  on  a 
better  i^caling-.u'round,  and  thus  live  tlu'oiinli  it.  I  asl;cd  the 
Esquiniaux's  Oj)iiii()iis  aliout  it — what  tlicy  woidd  do  if  tliey 
liad  not  us  to  inllu(Mice  them.  Tlit-y  told  me  they  Avould  start 
for  land  directly  they  saw  it.  'I'lieydo  not  like  to  speak  their 
minds  openly  I'or  fear  somcthin";-  might  happen — meaning 
they  Avonld  he  hlauKd  for  it  ;  so  they  arc  silent,  following 
only  the  adviec  and  opinions  of  others.  Joe  is  vcr\'  mueh  to 
bo  praised,  also  his  wife  Hannah.  We  mny  thank  them 
and  God  for  our  lives  and  tla;  good  health  we  arc;  in. 
"We  could  never  have  gotten  tlii'oiigli  tliis  I'ar  without  tiiem. 
If  wc  ever  g(;t  out  of  this  dinieulty,  tliey  ciin  never  i'e  paid 
too  mueh.  Joe  caught  a  very  small  seal,  which  makes  the 
eighth  this  month.  Northern  lights  very  Ijrilliant  to-niglit. 
All  well. 

Feb.  2G.  A  crack  of  water  to  the  1'].  Land  to  he  seen. 
We  arc  coming  down  on  our  jirovisions  (jne-half ;  that  is  as 
low  as  wc  can  come  and  keep  life,  and  will  be  a  few  ounces  a 
day. 


!^bu•ch  1.     Wc  are  drilling  S.  Hist  ;  can  lust  i-ce  the  m 


oun- 


tains  in  the  X.  W.  Sometimes  i'cter  bivors  us  with  ;i  sailor's 
yarn  when  wc  lie  down  at  niglit ;  that  is,  wlim  we  have 
had  a  meal  of  seal-meat.  All  other  nights  we  are  quiet 
enough. 

Alarch  2.  Splendid  display  of  northern  lights  these  last 
two  nights.  To-day  God  has  sent  us  food  in  aliundance. 
Joe  shot  a\  oogjook,  one  of  the  largest  kind  ;  plenty  of  meat 
and  oil ;  and  forty-two  dovckies.     It  took  all  hands  to  drag 


1.; 


lun  liomc. 


I'hat 


was  a  udod   ^nn(hiv  s  worl 


Iragging  the 
'  lis  mercies. 


(inc    fellow  to  the   hut.  and    tlianking  God  f( 

Begins  to  ijreeze  n\).  and  the  snow  d-ifts  pretty  lively.     All 

well  and  happy. 

March  5.     iJlowing  a  gale  lVo,ii  the  X.  W.     Snow  drifting; 
ciinnot  get  out.     Joe  went  out  in  ihe  last  Mow;  it  seems  to 

uld 


ne 


tiiW 


we  wo 


me  hv  caimot   stay  in;    he  is  a  lirsl-r 

liavc  licen  dead  men  long  since  had  it  not  been  lor  him. 


Ni? 


i!  i 


'I  I 


I 


I 


i>  '  H! 


%  I 


,' 


758 


JOHN    lIKItnO.N  S    DIAKT. 


mm 


March  7.  Tlio  gnlo  aliatcd  iliis  morning.  Stiff  lireozo 
yet,  and  snow  di-irtin.i.^  Immense  ieoljcrgs  all  around  tlie  floe. 
There  vras  a  fcari'ul  noise  all  last  night,  which  kept  us  awake. 
The  floe  was  cracking,  splitting,  and  working  in  the  most 
fearful  manner.  Just  like  a  ])ark  of  artillery  and  musketiy.  I 
expected  to  see  it  split  into  a  thousand  ])ieces  every  moment. 
I  feel  very  bad  yet  in  my  head  and  stomach.  The  liver  of 
hear  rnd  oogjook,  they  say,  is  very  dangerous  to  ect.  Ijut 
what  is  a  hungiy  man  to  do? 

March  11.  Blowing  a  sti'ong  gale  yet.  All  hands  were 
lip  last  night  and  dressed,  ready  for  a  jump,  for  the  ice  was 
splitting,  cracking  and  making  a  fearful  noise  all  night.  To- 
day has  been  a  fearful  day — cannot  see,  for  snow-drift.  Wc 
know  the  floe  is  broken  into  small  pieces.  Wc  arc  afloat — 
jumping  and  kicking  about.  This  is  not  very  pleasant.  My 
hope  is  in  God. 

March  12.  Last  night  was  a  fearful  night  of  suspense — 
ice  creaking  and  breaking  ;  the  gale  roaring,  and  the  water 
swashing.  But  where?  Wc  know  it  is  aroiuid  us,  ]>ut  can- 
not sec  anything.  Since  one  o'clock  this  moining  the  wind 
has  been  going  down,  thank  God,  and  now  I  can  sec  around. 
A  nice  i)icturcl  Everything  broken  up  into  small  j)icces ; 
the  1)est  piece  we  are  on.  The  houses  are  nearly  covchmI. 
Afternoon :  It  has  calmed  down  to  a  fine  day,  with  a  light 
breeze. 

March  17.  Saw  a  bear  this  morning,  and  gave  chase,  be- 
fore six  o'clock.  After  a  very  exciting  run  of  over  two 
hours,  he  got  over  a  large  space  of  water,  and  we  had 
to  give  him  up.     Saw  a  whale  and  three  seals,  but  got  noth- 


ing. 


March  26.  Water  three  miles  off.  Joe  caught  four  seals 
to-day  and  Hans  one — the  first  of  the  kind  ;  they  call  them 
bladder-nose  ;  they  are  buggers  to  fight.  I  do  not  know  how 
far  S.  we  shall  have  them  ;  we  have  just  struck  their  ground. 
They  are  splendid  seal — mud)  larger  than  the  others.  It 
is  very  dangerous  going  out  so  fur  ;  the  ice  is  so  weak,  and 
it  is  so  near  spring-tide. 


I     M 


JOHN   IIEIUIO-N  S   DIAKY. 


759 


March  27.  "Went  out  to-day  to  tlic  old  jilneo,  but  wns 
forced  to  come  back.  Esquinjoux' and  iill  pretty  lively.  It 
is  so  dangerous  Ave  Avill  have  to  wait  until  after  spring-tide. 
A  very  agreeable  sui'prisc  to-nigi;t,  wliilc  at  .sn])per.  A  l)car 
came  to  the  hut.  01"  course,  he  died  ;  Ave  buried  him  in  the 
snow  until  morning. 

March  28.  Skinned  and  cut  up  the  bear  ;  lie  is  a  fine 
young  one,  very  tender  and  fat,  Aveighiiig,  I  should  say,  700 
or  800  pounds.  We  arc  making  some  sausnges  from  him, 
"which  arc  very  good,  I  think.  1  think  it  is  the  sAveetcst  and 
tendercst  meat  1  ever  ate.     The  fat  cuts  like  gelatine. 

March  29.  lias  been  blowing  very  hard  since  last  night, 
and  is  doing  so  yet.  Surrounded  Avith  large  bergs  ;  the  ice 
broken  up  ;  Avater  all  around.  Never  saw  so  many  icebergs  ; 
■wc  are  comjiletely  hemnied  in  by  them.  Do  not  know  Aviiat 
distance  aa^c  arc  from  land.  Nothing  to  be  seen  but  the  old 
sight — icebergs,  floes,  and  Avater. 

March  oO.  Blowing  a  gale  from  W.  N.  W.  ;  it  looks  fear- 
ful. Last  night  the  sight  was  dreadful.  I  Avent  out,  and  there, 
Avithin  ten  or  twelve  ynrds  of  the  door  of  our  hut,  Avas  a 
very  large  and  ugly-looking  iceberg  grinding  against  us.  Our 
little  floe  gets  smaller  in  open  Avater.  To-day  we  had  the 
pleasure  of  launching  the  boat.  We  saAV  on  a  piece  of  ice  a 
large  seal ;  avc  fired  and  thought  we  hit  him.  "When  we  had 
pulled  there  Avith  the  boat,  avc  found  a  large  bladder-nose  and 
her  ])up.  She  shoAA'cd  fight,  but  Avas  soon  killed,  and,  Avith 
her  pup,  toAvcd  to  our  floe.  The  buck  AA'as  shot,  but  got  under 
the  young  ice. 

March  31.  We  are  nearly  off  Cape  FarcAvcll.  Last  night, 
ran  a  A-ery  licaA-y  sea;  not  a  bit  of  ice  to  be  seen  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach.  To-day  closed  around  a  little,  but  plenty 
of  Avatcr.  Daic  not  venture  in  our  ojien  lioat ;  avc  must 
watch  and  Avait  and  trust  in  Ood. 

April  1.  A  fearful  night,  last  night.  Cannot  stay  on  our 
floe  ;  must  leave  it  at  once.  Got  under  Avay  at  8  a.  m.  ;  the 
boat  taking  in  Avatcr.  Loaded  too  deej).  Tlirew  ovei'l)oard 
one  hundred  pounds  of   lueat ;    must  throAv  aAvay  all  our 


1 


I  i 


M  .     r 
li       * 

'*'     ill' 

ill 


W    1 


; "  ! 


I  :l 


760 


JOHN   IIERKON  S    DIARY. 


clothes.  Cannot  carry  anything  but  the  lent  and  a  few  skins 
to  cover  us  with,  a  little  meat,  and  our  bread  and  pcnunicau. 
We  himled  to  lighten  our  l)oat;  pitched  our  tent,  and  intend 
stopping  all  night. 

April  2.  Lovely  last  night.  The  lloe  lost  several  pieces. 
I  could  not  sl(,'ep  I'or  two  reasons:  the  ice  breaking  up,  and 
too  cold.  Started  at  5  a.m.  Worked  the  oars  for  two 
hours,  then  a  breeze  sjirang  up  iind  increased  until  it  blew 
almost  a  gale.  We  made  several  narrow  escapes  with  our 
boat  before  wo  coidd  find  a  piece  of  ice  safe  enough  to  land 
on,  and  when  wo  did  she  was  making  water  fast.  When 
emptied,  we  found  a  hole  in  her  side,  which  we  are  repairing 
this  afternoon.     We  .   '^  in  a  very  bad  fix. 

April  3.  Repaired  oiu-  boat,  and  started.  Pulled  three 
hours,  when  a  l)ree/.e  sprang  up  from  N.  N.  W.  Wc  kept 
imder  way  until  2:-j0  p.  m.,  when  wc  had  to  haul  up  on  a  piece 
of  a  I'loe.  We  were  be.  't  by  the  ice  and  could  not  get  through  ; 
so  wo  "■.icampcil  for  the  night. 

April  5.  Blowing  a  gale  and  a  fearful  sea  running. 
Two  pieces  broke  from  the  floe.  Wc  are  on  one  close  to  the 
tent.  At  5  a.  m.  removed  our  things  to  th.e  center.  Another 
piece  brokcoff  carrying  Joe's  hut  with  it,  '.■■  'kily  it  gave  some 
warning,  so  that  they  had  time  to  throw  out  some  things  be- 
fore it  parted.  A  dreadful  day  ;  cMiuiot  do  anything  to  help 
ourselves.  If  the  ice  l)reak  up  much  more,  we  must  break  up 
with  it ;  set  a  watch  all  night. 

April  G.  Blowing  a  very  severe  gale.  Stdl  on  the  same 
ice  ;  cannot  get  o(F.  At  the  mercy  of  the  elements.  Joe  lost 
another  hut  to-dny.  The  ice,  Avith  a  roar,  split  across  the 
floe,  cuttinsi'  Joe's  hut  right  in  two.  Wc  have  but  a  small 
piece  left.  Cannot  lie  down  to-night.  Put  a  few  things  in 
the  boat  and  now  standing  by  for  a  Jump  ;  such  is  the  night. 

April  7.  Htill  blowing  a  gale,  with  a  fearful  sea  running. 
The  ice  sjdit  right  across  our  tent  this  morning  at  G  a.  m. 
While  getting  a  few  ounces  of  bread  and  penuuicau,  we  lost 
our  breakfast  in  scrambling  out  of  our  tent,  and  nearly  lost 
our  boat,  which  would  have  bceu  worse  than  losinj^  ourselves. 


JOHN    IILKKO.N  ri    DIAUV. 


7G1 


Wc  could  not  ealcli  .luy  seal  nrter  Uio  slonu  sot  in  ;  so  -wo  arc 
ol)lii:od  to  starve  fur  a  while,  lioi)iii,i^  in  God  it  will  not  lie  lor 
a  long  time.  The  worst  of  it  is,  we  liuvc  no  1)1u1>1km'  for  the 
lamp,  and  eannot  cook,  or  melt  any  water.  Every! hi n;;-  looks 
very  g,l(}omy.  Set  a  watch  ;  half  tlio  men  arc  lying  down, 
the  others  walking  outside  the  tent. 


April 


Last  night,  at  12  o'clock,  ihe   ice   hroko  au'ain. 


right  hehveeu  the  tent  and  the  boat,  which  were  el  )se  to- 
gethei',  so  close  that  a  man  could  not  walk  iH-iweiii  thcni. 
There  the  ice  split,  sepai'ating  tlie  lioat  and  tent,  carrvin"" 
awav  lioat,  kavak,  and  Mr.  ilever.     'I'herc  we  stood,  h.liilcss, 


lool( 
col 


inii"  at   each  other. 


It 


was    hlowin"-  and 


■■.Udwini 


(i,  and  a  Icai 


ful 


sea  rnnniim'. 


'11 


le  ice  was  hicakiim- 


was   Li'nind 


ml. 


ping,  and   crushing.     The  sight 

us  in  our  ixjsition.     Mr.  ]*,lever  cast  the  kavak 


(lrea(t 
idrii';. 


wvy 
.  lap- 
:'ul  to 
■ut  it 


went   t;)   leeward  of  us.     He  can  do   nothing   wi;!i   iIh.'  lioat 


Tl 


le 


alone,  so  th(\y  are  lost  tc  us  unless  (!od   returns  tlicni. 
natives  went  ol'f  on  a  pi(;ce  of  ice  with  their  jiaddles  and  ice- 
spcars.     The  work  looks  dangerous  ;  avc  may  ne\ cr  s(  ■ 


at 


■ain.     l>t;t  we  are  lost  without  the  ])oat,  so  thai   th 


tlicni 


are  as 


well  off.     After  an   hour's   struggle,  we  can  make  <,u,,  with 
what   littU'    light    there  is,  that  tliev  have   reached  the  l)oat. 


altout    half  a  mile  off.     There   they  appear  to  1 


less- 


un 


til 


the  ice  closing  In   all  around — and  wc  can  do  noihi 
daylight. 

Daylight  at  last — oA.:m.  There  wc  see  them  wi;h  the 
boat  ;  they  can  do  nothing  with  her.  'I'he  kayak  is  iiie  same 
distance  in  another  direction.  We  nuist  venture  oif:  may  as 
well  l,e  crushed  by  the  ice  aiul  drowned  as  to  rem;i;n  hero 
without  ta(>  boat.  Off  we  venture,  all  but  two.  who  i\;w(i  not 
make   the   attempt.      We  jump  or  step  l'r(uu  one  piece  to  an- 


other, as  the  sw(  il  heaves  it  an.l  the  ice  conies  c 


touciher 


— one  j)iec(;  being  high,  the  other  low,  so  thai  yon  watch 
your  chance  to  Jmnp.  All  who  ventured  reached  ilu-  Itoat  in 
safety,  thank  (lod,  and  after  a  loni:'  st  lam'u'h^  we  uot  her  safe  to 


camp  a  gam. 


Then  wc  ventui'cd    for   the 


ava, 


anil 


ot    it 


also.     Mr.    Mever   and  Fred   Jamkius   fell  inlo   tin;  water. 


;    ( 


H 


,1' 


i; 
1 

i 

1, 

11 
1' 

^•^1      1 

,  H 

1    I 

1 

-- 


762 


JOHN  iiei;iion's  diaky. 


Luckily,  \vc  had  two  or  lliroc  dry  sliirls  left,  so  tliat  tlioy 
could  fluiiigo.  ^lost  every  nitiu  is  more  or  less  wet.  IJave 
taken  our  tent  down  and  pitched  it  on  tlie  middle  of  our  little 
piece  of  ice,  with  our  boat  alongside.  Joe  has  built  another 
liut  alongside  the  tent. 

Apiil  I).  The  sun  has  shown  himself  for  a  few  minutes. 
Mr.  ilcyer  shot  him  ;  latitude  i)i}°  51'  N.  The  sea  runs  verv 
high  threatening  to  wash  ns  off  every  nunute.  We  are  in 
the  hands  of  God  ;  may  IJe  picf-crve  us.  'ihe  ice  is  nuich 
slacker,  and  the  water  is  coming  nearer.  Things  look  very 
bad.  (J(jd  knows  how  the  night  will  end.  Evening:  Wa.^hed 
out  of  our  tent;  [Jannah  iVom  her  snow-hut.  IJave  gotten 
cvcrytliing  in  the  l)oat  ready  for  a  start ;  she  can  never  live 
in  such  a  sea.  'I'he  sun  has  set  voiy  good.  Laud  in  sight. 
It  has  cheered  us  up.  The  women  and  children  are  in  the 
boat.  We  have  not  a  dry  place  to  walk  about  nor  a  piece  of 
frcsh-waler  ice  to  cat.  Tiie  sea  has  swept  over  all.  The  ice 
is  closing  in  fast;  the  wind  and  sea  going  down. 

April  12.  We  are  still  ])risoners,  the  ice  close.  Saw 
some  seals,  but  could  not  get  them.  Very  hungry,  antl  likely 
lo  be  so. 

April  14.  Our  small  ])i('ce  of  ice  is  -wearing  away  very 
fast;  our  littl(!  i)rovisions  ai'c  nearly  finished.  Things  hiok 
very  dark  ;  starvation  very  near.  My  trust  is  in  God  ;  lie 
will  l»ring  us  through.     All  W(  II. 

April  Kk  The  ice  still  the  same;  no  swell  on.  My 
]|(  .id  and  fat  r  have  1 » i  ii  swollen  to  twice  iheir  usual  size.  I 
•\n  not  know  ihe  I'aui-c  of  it,  uidcss  it  is  the  ice  head-pillow 
and  the  sun.  We  keej)  an  hour's  watch  at  night.  Some  one 
has  been  at  tlu^  pemmican  on  their  watch,  and  I  can  put  my 
hand  on  the  man.  lie  did  the  same  thing  during  the  winter, 
and  (Ml  the  night  of  the  Till  1  caught  him  in  the  act.  We 
have  but  lew  days'  jUMvisions  left.  Tiie  only  thing  that 
troubles  me  is  the  thought  of  cannibalism.  It  is  a  fearful 
thought,  but  may  as  wiill  be  looked  boldly  in  the  face  as  oth- 
erwise. If  -uih  things  are  to  ha])peu  we  must  tubmit.  May 
God  save  us  I 


-%^1^ 


lOIIX    IIEUKON  S    DIARV. 


April  17.  Wc  shot  the  dogs  last  Avintcr  Tor  stealing  the 
provisions.  It'  1  hail  my  way,  willi  the  consent  of  all  hands, 
I  would  call  out  and  shoot  down  that  two-loggcd  dog,  who 
has  since  hocn  at  them.  I  sec  most  of  the  men  liave  their 
laces  swollen,  hut  not  so  badly  as  muie.  All  well,  but  grow- 
ing very  weak. 

Ai)ril  18.  Joe  saw  a  small  hole  of  water  half  a  mile  oIT. 
Ho  tool\  his  gun  and  ventured  over  the  loose  ice.  No  sooner 
had  lie  gotten  there  than  he  shot  a  seal,  and  sang  out  for  the 
kayak,  as  the  water  made  rapidly.  It  is  a  nice-sized  seal. 
A  iovful  siuht  met  our  view  Ihis  morninu'  when  wc  iurned  out 
— the  land  in  sight,  liearing  S.  W.  We  returned  thanks  to 
God  for  His  mercy  and  goodness  to  us.  AVe  di\  idrd  the  seal 
very  nicely  into  sixteen  parts.  One  man  th 'ii  turned  his 
hack,  and  called  out  the  names,  each  nuui  i:;tep})ing  u[)  and 
taking  his  share. 

A[iril  -0.  JJlowing  a  gale  somewhere.  The  swell  is  very 
heavy.  The  first  warning  wc  had — the  man  on  watch 
sang  out  at  the  moment — a  sea  struck  us,  and.  wasliing  over 
us,  carried  away  everything  that  was  loose.  This  liaj)|ieiied 
at  9  o'clock  last  night.  AVe  shipped  sea  after  sea,  live  and 
ten  miiuites  after  each  oLlier,  carrying  away  everything  wo 
had,  our  tent,  skins,  and  most  of  our  hcfl-clothing.  leaving 
us  destitute,  with  only  the  lew  things  v,e  couli!  get  into  the 
boat.  There  wc  stood  from  0  in  the  ev(>iiing  until  7  next 
morning,  enduring,  1  should  say,  what  men  never  siooil  lie- 
lore.  The  lew  things  we  saved,  and  the  children,  were 
placed  in  the  boat.  The  sea  broke  over  us  dni'ing  that  night 
and  morning.  Every  lil'teen  or  twenty  minutes  a  sea  wmdd 
come,  lift  the  boat  and  us  with  it,  carry  ns  along  ihe  iee.  and 


ose  it  streii'. 


Ih  I 


icar 


the 


cilu'c,  and  somelnnes  on  it. 


T 


len  it 


would    take  us  the  'lext  lil'leeu   minutes  to  uet  iiaek  tn  a  safe 


lace,  rci'-.dv  loi-  the  iiex!^  rolK'r, 


o  we  stoi)d  that  lonu'  Ii;)ur, 


not  a  word  spoke. i   but  the  conunands  t)  ■•  Noll  on.mv  hear- 
tie.i,  bear  d  iwii   on  her,  put  on   all  your  weight  ;"'  ainl  so  we 

ing  (  :i    like   ;.r;ni  dea'li.      Cold, 
|.ect  a'.iead.      At  V  u'(d..;ck  there 


did,  bcai'iiig  d  iwn   and  hi»I. 


nmgry,  wc!,  a 


na 


lie  tiro 


I'i  it 


I  ,«|i 


I 


I'  '  ?1i' 


!|if 


% 


764 


JOilX    llEliltO.N  .S    DIARY 


rmt\ 


I:  'rli 


camo  close  lo  us  a  small  jjioco  of  ico,  which  rode  dry,  and 
"\vc  dctcnuiiicd  to  launch  the  boat  and  reach  it,  or  jjerish.  Tlie 
cook  went  overboard  but  was  saved.  Landed  there  in  salety, 
thank  (iod.     All  well.     Tired  aiul  sleepy. 

April  21.  L  iSm  ni.iiht  and  yesterilay  all  hands  wet.  Nolh- 
ing  dry  to  jint  on  to-day.  There  is  little  to  dry,  but  we  have 
stripped  olf  cNerything  we  can  s})arc,  and  are  drying 
them.  The  men  are  divided  into  two  watches,  slee))ing  in 
the  boat  and  doing  the  best  we  can.  Hunger  disturbs  us 
most. 

April  22.  Weather  very  bad.  It  appears  to  me  we  arc 
the  sport  and  jest  of  the  elements.  The  other  night  they 
played  with  us  and  our  boat  as  tliough  we  were  shuttlecocks. 
]\Ien  would  never  believe,  nor  could  ])en  describe  the  scenes 
Avhich  we  have  passed  through,  and  yet  live.  Here  we  are, 
liair  drowiu'd,  cohl  and  with  no  means  of  shelter.  Everything 
Avet  and  no  sun  to  dry  them.  The  scene  looks  bad  ;  nothing 
to  eat.  Everything  fnuslu'd  if  some  I'cliel'  does  not  come 
along.  1  do  not  know  what  will  ])ecomo  of  us.  Fearful 
thoughts  enter  my  head  as  to  the  future.  Mr.  Meyer  is  starv- 
ing ;  he  camiot  last  long  in  this  state.  Joe  has  been  off  on 
the  ice  three  times  to-day,  the  little  way  he  can  get,  but  has 
not  seen  anything.  Chewed  on  a  piece  of  skin  this  morning 
that  was  tanned  and  saved  for  clothing;  rather  a  tough  and 
tasteless  breakfast.  Joe  ventured  off  on  the  ice  the  fourth 
time,  and  after  looking  a  good  while  from  a  piece  of  iceberg, 
saw  a  1  ear  coming  slowly  toward  us.  ITe  ran  back  as  fast  as 
possible  for  his  gun.  All  of  us  laid  down  and  remained  per- 
fectly still,  Joe  and  Hans  going  out  some  distance  to  meet 
the  bear,  (letting  behind  a  hummock,  they  waited  for  him. 
Along  came  Bruin,  thinking  he  was  coming  to  a  meal  instead 
of  furnishing  one  himself.  Clack,  bang  went  two  rifles,  and 
down  wont  Bruin  to  save  a  starving  lot  of  men.  The  Lord 
be  pi'aiscd  ;  this  is  His  heavenly  work  !  We  cannot  catch 
seal  for  tlie  pack-ice,  and  wo  are  on  a  bad  sealing-ground. 
Ho  therefore  sends  a  bear  along  where  bears  arc  seldom  seen, 
and  where  we  certainly  never  expected  to  find  one.      The 


JOHN    IIERRON  S    DIAKY, 


rG5 


and 
The 

ufli- 
;ivo 

4'  in 
IS  us 


poor  bear  was  hungry  himself ;  there  was  nothing  in  liis 
Htomacli.  Joe,  poor  lellow,  loolicd  very  much  down  on  oui- 
account.  Everything  looks  bright  again  but  the  atmos- 
j)herc  ;  it  looks  tlircatening. 

April  25.  AV'ind  inci-eascd  to  a  gale  last  night  from  the 
N.  E.  Raining  all  night  and  to-day,  with  snow-squalls. 
Launched  the  boat  at  5  a.  m.  Tlie  case  was  desjxirato  ;  lun- 
ning  with  a  light-built  boat,  damaged  as  she  is,  j)atchcd  and 
scratched  all  over.  But  what  were  we  to  do  ?  The  jiiece  of 
ice  we  were  on  had  wasted  away  so  much  it  wotdd  never  ride 
out  the  gfilc.  Our  danger  to-day  was  ver}'  gi'cat ;  a  gale  of 
wind  blowing  ;  a  crippled  boat  overloaded  ;  and  a  feai-ful  sea 
running,  fdlcd  with  small  ice  as  sbar[)  as  knives.  ]>iit,  tliunk 
G(jd,  we  came  sal'  '\  tlirough  it.  We  are  all  soaking  w<;t,  in 
everything  we  hav<',  and  no  chance  of  drying  anything.  We 
have  had  neither  sun  nor  moon  for  over  a  week.  Not  a  sin- 
gle star  have  I  seen.  All  is  dark  and  dreary,  but,  jilcase 
God,  it  will  soon  brighten  up.  We  have  struck  the  sealman's 
grounds.  I  never  saw  sucih  an  alamdance  of  seals  Itelbre  ; 
they  are  in  schools  like  the  porpoise.  W^e  hauled  up  on  a  floo 
after  eight  hours'  jmll ;  could  make  no  westing.  Shot  some 
seals,  but  they  all  sunk  ;  Joe  shot  them.     Hard  times. 

April  26.  Joe  shot  a  seal  last  evening  and  l»roke  the 
charm.  Hans  shot  one  this  morning.  Ice  very  thick  around. 
Started  at  6.30  a.m.,  and  were  l)eset  two  hoiu's  afterward. 
Pulled  up  on  a  small  piece  of  ice  ;  the  best  we  could  find. 
Snowing  all  day.  Repaired  the  boat  here,  which  it  wanted, 
and  the  veather  cleared  up  in  the  afternoon.  Got  ,^omc 
things  dried  a  little,  and  half  of  us  turned  in. 

April  28.     Gale  of  wind  sprang  up  from  the  W.  ;  heavy 

sea  running ;  water  washing  over  the  floe.     All   ready  and 

standing  by  our  boat  all  night.    Not  quite  so  bad  as  the  other 

night.      Snow-squalls   all   night   and   during  the   forenoon. 

Launched  the   boat  at  daylight,  but  could  get  nowhere  Un' 

the  ice.     Ileavy  sea  and  head-wind  ;  blowing  a  gale  right  in 

our  teeth.     Hauled  up  on  a  piece  of  ice  at  G  a.  m.,  and  had 

a  few  hours'  slcei),  but  were    threatened  to  be  mashel  to 

44 


f 


I 


I  ^li^     i 


;: 


TOG 


JOHN    HKIUtOiN  8    JU.VItY. 


pieces  by  some  bergs.  Tliey  are  fiylitiiif:;  qiiile  a  l)attle  in 
the  water,  and  boai'iiig  ri},'bt  lor  us.  We  called  tli»!  watcli, 
laimclicd  tlio  boat,  and  got  away,  the  wind  blowing  modo- 
rately  and  the  sea  going  down. 

4:>\0  P.  M.  Steamer  right  aliead,  and  a  little  to  the  N.ofus. 
We  hoisted  the  colors,  pulled  until  dark,  trying  to  cut  her 
olT,  but  she  docs  not  see  us.  She  is  a  sealer,  bearing  S.  W. 
Once  she  appeared  to  be  bearing  right  d(nvu  upon  us,  l>ut  I 
suppose  she  was  Avorking  through  the  ice.  What  joy  she 
caused  I  We  found  a  small  piece  of  ice  and  boarded  it  for 
the  night.  Night  calm  and  clear.  The  stars  are  out  the 
Ih-st  time  for  a  week,  and  there  is  a  new  moon.  The  sea 
(piiet,  and  splendid  nortliern  liglits.  Divided  into  two 
watches,  four  hours'  sleep  each.  Intend  to  start  early.  Had 
a  good  jmll  this  afternoon  ;  made  some  westing.  Cooked 
with  blubber-fire.  Kept  a  good  one  all  night,  so  that  wc  could 
be  seen. 

April  29.  Morning  fine  and  calm  ;  the  water  quiet.  At 
daylight  sightc^d  the  steamer  five  miles  off.  Called  the  watch, 
launched  the  boat  and  made  for  her.  After  an  hour's  pull 
gained  on  lier  a  good  deal;  another  hour  and  we  got  fast  in 
the  ice ;  could  get  no  further.  Landed  on  a  piece  of  ice,  and 
iioistcd  our  colors  from  an  elevated  place.  Mustered  our 
ritles  and  pistols,  and  fired  together,  making  a  considerable 
report.  Fired  three  rounds  and  was  answered  by  three  shots, 
the  steamer  at  the  same  time  heading  for  us.  He  headed 
N.,  then  S.  E.,  and  kept  on  so  all  day.  He  tried  to  work 
through  the  ice,  but  could  not.  Very  strange ;  I  should 
think  any  sailing-vessel,  much  less  a  steamer,  could  get 
through  with  ease.  We  fired  several  rounds  and  kept  our 
colors  flying,  but  he  came  no  nearer.  He  was  not  over  four 
or  five  miles  distant.  Late  in  the  afternoon  he  steamed 
away,  bearing  S.  W.  We  gave  him  up.  In  the  evening  he 
hove  in  sight  again,  but  farther  off.  While  looking  at  him, 
another  stranger  hove  in  sight,  so  that  we  have  two  scalers 
near,  one  on  each  side  of  us,  and  I  do  not  expect  to  be  picked 
up  by  either  of  them. 


'(! 


JOHN    HEUUON  S    1)1  A UV. 


707 


April  30.  Five  a.  m.  ;  vvcallior  iWwk  and  fogjry.  niuri- 
oua  Kiglit  whoa  fog  broke ;  a  stoanier  elose  to  us.  She  sees 
us  and  bears  down  ou  us.  We  are  saved,  thunic  (lod  !  We 
arc  sale  on  board  the  Tigress,  of  St.  John's,  (Captain  IJart- 
le(  t.  lie  says  the  otlier  steamer  couUl  not  have  seen  us,  as 
tiie  eaptain  is  noted  I'or  his  humanity.  The  Tigress  musters 
one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  the  liindest  and  most  obliging 
1  have  ever  met.     I'ieked  up  in  latitude  53°  35'  N. 

May  1.  Weather  very  line.  Going  north,  sealing.  Tlio 
steamer  wo  saw  on  tlie  29th  was  tlie  Kagle,  of  St.  John's, 
Captain  Jaekmann,  noted  for  Ids  hunuvnity  in  saving  life. 
He  has  reecived  two  medals  for  saving  life.  'J'he  eaptain  of 
this  steamer  says  that  if  that  nuin  had  seen  us,  and  (Mjuld  not 
have  gotten  to  us  with  the  steamer,  he  would  have  sent  his 
men  on  the  lee  and  carried  us  o(]'.  Joe  is  in  his  glory,  shoot- 
ing seals.     We  are  getting  on  first-j-atc,  eating  and  sleejiing. 

May  2.  The  crew  on  board  this  steamer,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  in  number,  arc  like  a  band  of  brothci's.  'Jhey 
are  all  Newfoundland  men,  and  are  very  kind  to  each  other. 
No  wrangling  there  ;  a  new  thing  on  board  ship. 

May  3.  Blowing  fearfully  all  night,  and  continues  to  do 
so.  These  steamers  must  be  very  strong;  they  endin-c  gicat 
punishment.  She  is  in  the  ice  getting  knocks  that  one  avouKI 
think  would  go  right  through  her,  but  the  men  seem  to  think 
nothing  of  it.  We  are  treated  with  the  greatest  kindness  by 
them  ;  they  never  think  they  are  doing  enough  for  us. 

May  4.  Surrounded  in  the  ice.  Cale  continued  last  night 
and  this  morning  ;  lost  its  force  at  noon.  Had  divine  service 
to-day — 'he  first  we  have  had  since  Captain  Hall's  death. 
Wc  had  some  of  the  bear-meat  left  when  the  steamer  came 
along ;  so  the  bear  saw  us  out  of  danger  and  the  Tigress  took 
us  from  it. 

May  5.  The  steamer  beset  in  the  ice.  A  man  from  aloft 
saw  a  large  numl)er  of  seals,  some  four  or  five  miles  off.  All 
hands  over  the  side,  and  made  for  them.  The  cajjtain's  son 
no  sooner  arrived  there  and  fired  the  first  shot  than  the  cart- 
ridge burst,  and  shattered  his  hand  very  badly.     Some  of  the 


I! 


'1 


if 


'1 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


■^IM  IIM 

'::  "^  iiiM 

't  lis  IIIIIM 


1.8 


1.4    II  1.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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a. 


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V 


768 


JOHN  IIEUKON  B  DIARY. 


men  came  back  with  him,  spoilinc;  their  work  for  some  time, 
fhcy  killed  seven  or  eight  hundred  seals  before  sunset.  The 
steamer  could  not  come  to  their  ausiiitanee,  so  they  Icil  them 
on  the  ice  all  night. 

May  G.  The  crew  started  for  their  seals  at  the  first  streak 
of  day.  Nearly  all  of  thcnt  were  stolen  by  the  other  steam- 
ers. 

May  7.  Blowing  a  heavy  gale  all  night,  N.  W.  Seven 
A.  M.,  turned  her  huud  S.,  and  are  running  out  the  ice ;  looks 
like  going  home. 

May  8.  Will  bo  in  St.  John's  early  in  the  morning,  I 
think  4  P.  M.  We  are  going  to  Bay  Rol)crt8  first,  to  land  the 
boats  and  scaling-gear.     Thou  thoy  will  start  for  St.  John's. 

May  9.  Bay  IloUcrts.  Went  on  shoi'e  where  wc  wore  re- 
ceived very  kindly  by  the  inhnlntants.  The  American  consul 
from  IIarl)or  Grace,  and  other  genMcnjen,  came  to  sec  us, 
and  were  very  kind  doing  all  thoy  possibly  could.  Wc  are 
getting  paid  for  our  suficrings  on  the  ice.  It  is  a  very  splen- 
did bay,  with  very  neat  and  comfortable  houses.  The  peo- 
ple arc  very  intelligent  and  kind. 


» time. 
.  Tlie 
1;  them 

streak 
Btcam- 

Scvcii 
luuks 

iin<T.  I 
lui  the 
olin'a. 
ore  re- 
;oiisiiI 
sec  us, 
re  are 
splen- 
ic peo- 


I' 


'<llll 


ui.m; 


mi 


V 


V  I'/i, 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

rOLAKIS    SEARCH    A^D    RELIEF    EXPEDI- 
TIONS. 

(cinlSK  OF  TIIK  .UMATA  AM)  TIUUESS.) 

Tim  story  told  Ly  Capt.  Tyson  and  liis  companions 
of  lli(^  ictHlrlft,  oxcltfd  dt'ep  apj)n'lii'n.sions  as  to  tlio 
fate  of  the  halanee  of  tlie  Polaris  crew,  Avlio,  in  case 
of  tlie  wreck  of  their  ship,  liad  prohaltly  gone  down 
with  her  or  were  imprisoned  on  the  ice-l)ound  shores 
of  (ireenlan<l ;  and  it  was  resolved  hy  the  Secretary 
of  (he  Navy  that  one  or  more  vessels  should  Le  sent 
to  search  for  tlui  missing  naviijjators. 

As  the  Secret  aiy  had  no  vessel  suital  do  for  this  ser- 
vice at  his  command  he  purchased,  as  the  most  avail- 
able one,  the  Tigress — the  same  steamer  which  rescued 
the  Polaris  party  from  the  ice  off  the  Labrador  coast. 
This  vessel  was  Iniilt  expressly  for  sealintr,  and  was 
particularly  adapted  for  sailing  among  ice-floes.  The 
price  paid  for  this  shij)  was  ^(')(),0(K).  She  arrived  at 
New  York  on  the  2Sth  of  June,  and  tlu^  work  of  j)repar- 
ing  her  for  the  proposed  trij)  was  immediately  com- 
menced at  the  Brooklyn  Navy-ynid. 

The  Secretary  also  directed  that  the  V.  S.  steamer 
Juniata,  which  had  been  fitted  up  to  assist  in  laying 
a  cable  from  the  Rei*nuida's  to  the  Atlantic  coast, 
should  ^ive  up  that  enterprise  and  be  sent  to   the 


cx_.  >» 


770 


THE   JI'NIATA. 


Lower  Groenland  settlements  to  assist  in  the  search. 
Prei)arati<)ns  for  lier  voyage  were  speedily  made ; 
and  with  a  load  of  coal  and  ample  i>rovisions,  from 
which  she  was  to  supply  the  Tigress,  and  the  Polaris 
if  found,  she  started  from  New  York  on  the  24th  of 
June.  She  was  manned  by  one  hundred  and  thirty 
men  and  carried  two  light  guns.  Besides  her  own 
boats,  she  canied  a  large  steam  launch  intende<l  for 
expeditions  further  noilh  than  the  Juniata  c<mld 
safely  go.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  principal 
officers  of  the  expedition  : — 

Daniel  L.  ISraiiio,  Conimandor. 
Edgar  C.  Mpninian,  Execmix-c  Olliocr.        (ioorgo  W.  Di'Lon;;,  Xavigntor. 
George  K.  Mc,  Edward  .J.  Mi'(llelland,        Charles  \V.  Cliii)p,  Liou tenants. 
Win.  F.  Diilkley,  Samuel  E.  Couiley,  Sidney  II.  May,  .loliii  I).  Kcelcr,  En.sign.i. 
Fredcriek  E.  I'pton,  Master.  .1.  .1.  Ilunker,  Midshijiinan. 

T.  C.  Walton,  Surgeon.  B.  F.  Rogers,  Assistant  Surgeon. 

T.  S.  Thompson,  Paascil  Assistant  Payniaster. 

Tlie  .Tuninta  arrived  at  St.  J(>hn's  on  the  30th  of 
June,  and  after  several  days  of  additional  preparations 
for  her  hazardous  trip  started  for  the  Greenland 
coast,  and  reached  Disco  Island  on  the  22d  of  July. 
Ilei^e  a  numl)er  of  sledge  <logs  were  procured,  coal  for 
the  Tigress  landed,  aiul  other  pivpar.-itions  for  that 
vessel  co^upleted.  The  Juniata  then  left  Disco,  July 
2{)th,  and  reached  Upernavik  on  the  .'Ust. 

As  U])eniavik  was  as  far  north  as  the  Juniata  could 
be  ex])ecte<l  to  go,  her  magnificent  steam  launch  the 
"  Little  Juniata,"  was  here  put  alloat,  and  thoroughly 
e(piipi)ed  for  a  voyage  up  the  coast  in  search  of  the 
missing  [nirty.  She  was  connnanded  on  this  trip  by 
Lt.  DeTjong,  and  her  t^rew  consisted  of  eight  volun- 
teei*8  and  an  i<"-  pilot.  She  steamed  northward  on 
the  2d  of  August,  amid  the  enthusiastic  cheers  of  the 
Juniata  crew  and  spectators,  and  reached  Tessuisak 
at  midnight  of  the  same  day. 


'I' 


ntl'ISK   OF    TIIK    LirrLK   .MNIATA. 


"71 


The  next  inoruing  tlje  Little  Juniata  was  pushed 
cautiously  on,  in  full  view  of  iinnuMise  iiclds  of  ice  and 
between  huge  Hoating  icelu'rgs.  On  the  niglit  of  the 
4th  they  reached  Duck  Islands  and  Wilcox  Head, 
where  they  were  euveloj)e<l  in  a  dense  fog,  and  en- 
tangled in  an  ice-pack,  through  which  they  escaped 
to  the  westward  after  a  twelve  h(»urs'  Htrugi'le  with 
the  floes. 

Entering  Melville  Bay  on  the  0th,  they  sighted 
Cape  York  on  the  morning  of  the  Mtii,  and  heade(! 
towards  the  land  which  was  caj)ped  witli  a  <lense  fog. 
Two  hours  later  a  gale  arose  wliich  increased  to  u 
frightful  tempest,  and  the  launch  was  for  thirty-six 
hours  on  the  edge  of  the  ice-pack  in  a  dangerous  posi- 
tion ;  Jis  it  was  iinpossil>le  to  land  and  no  j)rogresH 
could  l)e  made  to  the  north,  the  explorei-s  hea<le<i 
south,  and  arrived  off  Tessuisak  o:i  the  lltli,  where 
they  met  the  Tigress  which  had  ari'ived  on  the  scene 
of  action. 

The  steamer  Tigress  left  the  Hrooklyn  Navy-yard 
for  her  humane  undertaking  on  the  14th  of  .Inly, 
at  5  P.  M.,  amid  repeat<Ml  cheers  from  the  seamen  of 
the  "Brooklyn,"  "Vermont,"  ami  other  ships.  She 
steamedslowly  up  the  East  River  toward  Long  Island 
Sound,  and  as  she  passed  the  (Jovernment  battery  it 
fired  one  farewell  shot  as  a  parting  salute.  Her  offi- 
cers were  as  follows  : — 

James  A.  Greer,  ('uminniider.  Honry  C.  Wliito,  Executive  Officer. 

II.  M.  HiTiy,  Urit;!  Si'l)r(>o,  (Iporj;!'  V.  Wilkiiis,  Lifutenants. 
GoorRe  E.  Rau;;liin!ii),  PuymiistiT.  .1.  W.  ENtoii,  SiiriiPon. 

Gpor};e  E.  Tyson,  \V.  N.  ('liiimian,  Ii'o-inusters. 

The  E.s<piimaux,  Hans  and  his  family  were  sent 
home  in  the  Tigress ;  and  Joe  accompanied  the  expe- 
dition as  interpreter.  His  wife  Hannah,  with  "  Pun- 
na/'  remained  at  Wiscasset,  Maine,  where  she   had 


J 


772 


ABOUT   "lIANNAIl/ 


been  kee|)ing  house  for  the  wliole  EMfpiimniix  party, 
wlio  had  been  sent  thither  by  the  (iovt»rnnient  after 
the  investigation  at  AV^asiiington.  The  following  is  a 
copy  of  a  letter  written  by  her  to  Mi's.  Huddington,  at 
Groton,  as  published  in  the  Spriufjjitld  JiepuUhtin. 
The  "old  man  "  refei*H  to  Capt.  Bu<ldington  ;  his  sul> 
sequent  safe  arrival  home  shows  that  Ilannali  is  some- 
thing of  a  jH'ophetess.  The  "  eight  children  "  means 
the  party  under  her  care. 

"WiscAssET,  June  22d,  1873. 
"Sarah  Mother  Buddington  : — I  shall  never  forget 
you.  I  now  try  to  write  you.  I  am  well ;  Joe  well ; 
Punna  very  sick  for  34  days,  little  better  now.  I 
like  to  see  you  once  more.  So  good  to  me.  I  never 
have  time  to  do  anything.  Ilans's  four  children  here 
too.  I  got  eight  children  ;  no  go  with  them  home. 
October  15,  1872,  we  come  home  down  on  ice.  (J)ld 
nian  come  l)y-and-l)y  ;  he  well.         IIanxah  Lito." 

The  sjime  paper  states  that  ISIrs.  Ihiddington  visited 
Hannah  at  AViscasset  after  the  sailing  of  the  Tigress, 
and  on  suggesting  to  her  that  she  should  return  to 
Groton,  Hannah  with  exceptionable  Esquimaux  thrift 
replied : — 

"  What,  and  leave  all  these  victuals  for  other  people 
to  eat  up!  No;  Punna  and  I  shall  stay  till  it  is  all 
eaten." 

The  Tigress  reached  Disco,  via  St.  John's,  on  the 
4th  of  August,  and  joined  the  Juniata  at  Disco  on 
the  10th.  Starting  north  the  next  day,  the  Tigress 
met  Lt.  De  Long  returning  from  his  excursion,  who 
boarded  the  steamer  and  rei)orted  to  her  commander 
the  route  and  incidents  of  his  trip.  The  Tigress  then 
steamed  on  across  Melville  Bay,  and  approached 
Northumberland  Island  near  which  the  Polaris  was 


I  111 


11 

lii 


_i^-- ^ 


THE  T1UKE8.S   ON    Till!:   TKAII* 


<  < 


'.i 


reported  to  have  been  lust  seen.  This  island  wha 
ch)Hely  scrutinized,  but  no  truces  of  the  Polaris  could 
be  found,  nor  could  Tyson  and  the  Escjuiinaux  rcct)*;- 
nize  it  as  the  locality  in  which  they  i)arted  from  that 
shi|>. 

Commander  Greer  then  proceeded  northwai'd,  and 
when  near  Cape  Ohlsen — so  named  from  one  of  Dr. 
Kane's  crew  who  was  buried  near  by — Cnpt.  Tyson 
recognized  a  rock  as  the  one  which  hid  the  Polaris 
from  the  view  of  the  ])arty  left  on  the  floe.  Soon 
afterward,  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  14th, 
a  sound  of  human  voices  was  heard  in  the  distance.  A 
boat  was  instantly  lowei'ed  and  started  for  the  shore 
amid  great  excitement,  whieh  was  mingled  with  exult- 
ation when  Greer  exclaimed  : — 

"  I  see  their  house ;  two  tents  are  clearly  perceptible, 
and  movini'  ficrures  can  be  seen  on  the  mainland." 

The  boat  returned  in  an  hour,  with  the  disappoint- 
ing tidings  that  Captain  Buddiiigton  and  his  party 
Avere  not  on  the  coast.  Commander  Greer  now  went 
ashore  accompanied  by  Joe  as  interpretei',  an<l  others. 

A  crowd  of  Esquimaux  consisting  of  five  men,  two 
women  and  two  children,  greeted  them  on  their  ai'rival 
at  the  whoi'e,  and  seemed  quite  intelligent.  They 
said  that  they  came  from  Pond's  Bay  on  a  hunting 
expedition,  and  had  remainecl  with  the  Buddington 
party  all  winter;  the  latter  had  built  two  l^onts,  and 
started  south  at  the  time  when  the  ducks  beijan  to 
hatch. 

A  comfoi-talde  Avooden  house  was  found,  having  in 
it  bunks,  mattresses,  furniture,  galley,  etc.  Provisions, 
instruments,  books  and  other  articles  were  scattered 
about  in  every  direction.  Articles  of  value,  includ- 
ing fii-e-arms  and  the  ship's  bell,  with  manuscript  mat 


^i 


'i\ 


<  i 


4 


KIDDINOTON  H   CAMP    OFSCOVKUKn. 


ter  and  a  mutilnted  lof^-lxtok  were  tal\en  nbounl  (Le 
TicfreRs.  Nothing  rcsiM'cting  tlio  (Icparturo  or  dcsti- 
nut  loll  of  the  cnnv  coiiM  be  foiiiid.  A  cairn  evidently 
built  by  them  wuh  exaniiiuHl,  but  contained  only  seal- 
blubber. 

The  Kscjuiniaux  stated  tliat  Binhliiipton  had  given 
them  hia  Hliip,  ]>ut  that  >vhen  the  ice  ln-oke  uj)  in  the 
niidille  of  July,  it  floated  into  a  cove  and  Kiink.  Tliey 
pointe<l  out  the  jtlace  where  it  lay  in  nine  fatlionis 
of  water  witli  a  grounded  iceberg  above  it.  These 
natives  had  no  boats  and  luit  little  food,  and  occu- 
pied two  tents  evidently  from  the  l\)laris.  They 
intimated  that  they  would  like  to  take  a  tri])  in  the 
Tigress. 

This  deserted  camp  of  the  Polaris  crew  was  on  the 
mainland  opposite  Littleton  Island,  at  the  place  desig- 
nated by  Dr.  Kane  as  "  Life  Boat  Cove."  The  ])lace 
is  about  sixty  miles  north  of  Northumberland  Island  ; 
the  ice-floe  party  had  been  mistaken  as  to  the  locality 
of  their  separation  with  the  ship. 

At  a  quarter  i)ast  two  in  the  morning,  after  a  halt 
of  only  five  liours,  the  Tigress  started  on  its  i-eturn 
south,  and  arrived  at  Godhavn  on  the  25th,  where 
the  Juniata  awaited  her  arrival.  After  takinj?  in 
coal  and  supplies.  Commander  Greer  started  for  Da- 
vis's Strait  and  the  Labrador  Coast.  The  Juniata 
steamed  for  St.  John's,  and  reached  there  on  the 
morning  of  Sept.  10th.  Here  Commander  Braiiie 
reported  by  telegraph  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
who  immediately  directed  a  continuance  of  the  search 
by  both  vessels. 

In  obedience  to  these  orders  the  Juniata  left  St. 
John's  on  the  morning  of  the  18th,  the  intention  be- 
ing to  proceed  up  the  Labrador  Coast  and  then  to 


MONAMNii    Tin:    .IINIATA    AT    NKlIlT. 


visit  other  placeH  uh  inii^lit  seem  cxiu'dioiit.  As  ni<;ht 
came  <»n  tlio  [JioHpc'C'ts  of  tlu*  v<>yH<;('  were  f^looiny  lunl 
ili.scoiuajrin^.  Ice  was  fcntiiiiij^',  tlu*  weather  was  bad, 
the  sea  lu'avy,  and  ilie  wheieaboutH  of  the  'J'igic.ss 
iiiikiiown. 

Tl»e  iii^^ht  was  very  dark,  uiul  at  eleven  <  '-loek  a 
light  was  reported  on  the  j)()rt  beam.  IJofkets  too 
were  observed  from  a  far-otF  steamer.  ('Oinmauder 
IJraine  (»rdered  the  Jnniata  to  be  slowed  down,  and 
answer('(l  the  sij^nals.  There  was  the  p-eatest  excite- 
ment on  board.  A  steamer  in  this  sea  at  this  time 
\vas  a  rai'e  thini^,  and  it  was  ft'lt  that  news  from  the 
Polaris  was  at  hand.  Tlie  steam(;r,  supposed  to  be 
the  'J'ii^i'ess,  ap|»ro!U'lied,  and  at  midnii^ht  was  close 
aboard  ;  st)on  a  shout  came  over  the  water: — 

"Ship  ahoy!" 

"  Ay,  ay,"  was  answered  from  the  Juniata 

"Is  that  the  .Juniata ?" 

"Yes." 

"AVe  have  the  American  Consul  aboard." 

A  boat  was  immediately  lowered  from  thf  Juniata, 
which  conveyed  Consul  Molloy  of  St.  John's  to  that 
steamer.  lie  informed  her  commander  that  he  had 
received  a  tc^leijram  that  the  Polaris  crew  had  arrived 
at  Dundee,  Scotland,  in  a  whaling  vessel ;  and  that,  on 
receipt  of  the  disj)atch,  he  had  chartered  a  steamer  t(» 
follow  the  Juniata  and  attempt  to  overtake  hei-. 
The  news  was  received  with  great  delight,  and  both 
vessels  returned  to  St.  John's ;  at  which  i)ort  the 
Tigress  also  arrived  on  tlie  IGth  of  October,  after  an 
uneventful  cmise  in  the  track  of  the  Northern  wha- 
lers. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


THE  WRECK  OF  THE  POLARIS. 

Havino  given  an  account  of  the  organization,  out- 
ward voyage,  and  discoveries  of  the  Polaris  Expedi- 
tion, the  death  of  its  commander,  the  wintering  at 
Thank  God  Harbor,  the  disastrous  division  of  its 
members,  the  perilous  drift  on  the  floes  of  a  portion 
of  them,  and  the  search  made  for  the  missing  steamer, 
it  remains  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  Polaris  from 
the  ir)th  of  October,  1872,  when,  with  fourteen  men 
on  Ijoard  of  her,  she  parted  her  hawsers  and  was 
swept  away  amid  the  storm  and  darkness ;  and  the 
story  of  the  experiences  of  Capt.  Buddington  and 
his  party,  may  perhaps  be  best  told  in  his  own 
words : — 

"At  five  p.  M.  on  the  12th  of  August,  we  started 
from  Polaris  Bay  for  the  United  States.  We  drifted 
through  the  ice  till  the  20th,  when  we  were  locked 
fast  in  the  ice-pack  and  drifted  with  it.  We  were 
still  leaking  fost,  but  the  donkey  engine  enabled  us 
to  keep  the  water  under.  I  rigged  out  a  house  on 
the  floe,  calculated  to  hold  all  our  hands — thirty-three 
in  number.  It  was  twenty-seven  by  twenty-four  feet 
and  was  covered  with  canvas.  On  the  0th  of  Octo- 
ber I  had  bags  of  bread  placed  in  it.  We  were  still 
drifting  south,  our  position  being  78°  45^  North,  72** 
15/  West. 

776 


CAPTAIN    BUDDINGTON  S    NAURATIVE. 


rrr 


"  On  the  lotli,  tlio  wind  blew  with  a  velocity  of 
forty  miles,  accompanied  l)y  a  violent  snow-storm.  I 
had  another  hawser  i)assed  out  to  the  old  massive 
floe  which  had  brought  us  down  from  lat.  80*^,  and 
which  was  our  only  safety.  At  7..'50  we  had  a  severe 
nip,  from  a  heavy  old  floe  which  j^assed  heavily  on 
our  starboard  si<le,  raising  the  vessel  a  few  fi'ct  and 
keeling  her  over  to  ])<)rt.  It  was  then  reported  to 
me  that  we  were  makiuij  water  fast  and  were  stove 
aft.  Our  engines  could  no  longer  co])e  with  the 
water. 

"The  two  native  Es<[uiniaux  had  their  wives,  chil- 
dren and  effects  on  the  floe,  it  seeming  to  th<'ni,  as 
it  did  indeed  to  all  of  us,  the  safest  place.  Our 
remaining  two  whale  boats — all  we  had — were  low- 
ered on  the  ice  and  haultsd  back  to  a  s(;cure  ])lac('! 
alongside  of  the  stores.  Sufricient  i)rovisions  and 
fuel  to  last  all  winter  were  ]>ut  on  the  ice,  together 
with  nuisk-ox  skins,  bedding,  and  all  the  clothing 
except  what  we  wore.  At  half-i)ast  nine  the  floe 
suddenly  broke ;  that  pai't  to  Avliich  the  vi'sscl  Avas 
made  fast  breakin«j:  awav  from  the  main  bod  v.  The 
bow  hawser  snap})ed  lik(!  ])ack-threa(l,  the  anchors 
slipped,  and  the  violence  of  the  wind  sent  the  vessel 
adrift  as  rapidly  as  if  she  had  been  under  steam.  At 
a  moment's  notice  we  were  thus  separated  from  more 
than  half  the  ship's  company. 

"  We  were  now  in  a  ciitical  condition,  Avithout  boats, 
anchors,  or  haws(!rs ;  but  there  was  no  time  for 
reflection,  as  the  water  was  g;iining  fast,  and  Avould 
soon  reach  the  furnace  fires  in  spite  of  the  bilge  ])ump 
which  was  all  this  time  at  work,  assisted  by  the 
alley-way  pump ;  and  if  we  could  not  start  the  deck 
pumps  it  was  evident  that  the  vessel  would  go  down. 


778 


TUE   POLAiaS    W  KECKED    AND    DESERTED. 


The  ice  arouncl  us  was  fine  broken  "  y)rash,"  wliich 
would  not  bear  tlie  weight  of  a  man.  By  tins  time 
the  water  in  the  boiler  was  hot,  and,  by  ])ouring 
several  bucketfuls  down  the  pumps,  we  thawed  them 
sufficiently  so  as  to  enable  us  to  keep  the  water  from 
gaining;  and  never  did  men  use  their  strength  with 
more  energy  than  we  did  on  that  occasion.  It  was 
evident  we  could  not  last  long  at  the  work,  but  fortu- 
nately, just  then,  the  engineers  reported  steam  up,  by 
which  additional  aid  we  were  enabled  to  keep  the 
ship  afloat. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  16th  we  found  our  position 
a  few  miles  north  of  Littleton  Island,  in  Smith's 
Straits.  The  gale  had  then  su]>sided,  and  it  was 
shortly  afterwards  quite  calm.  We  looked  from  the 
masthead  of  our  vessel  for  our  companions  on  the  floe, 
but  could  not  see  anything  of  them  whatever.  The 
current  must  have  taken  them  in  a  difixirent  direction 
from  the  course  the  wind  took  us.  Aljout  noon  a 
breeze  sprung  up  from  the  north,  and,  opening  a  lead 
in-shore  to  the  east,  the  vessel  at  this  time  began 
drifting  out  of  the  straits  again.  By  the  aid  of  steam 
and  sail  I  took  advantage  of  the  lead  when  opened 
wide  enough  to  admit  me,  and  ran  the  vessel  as  near 
shore  as  the  ice  would  allow,  and  made  fast  with  lines 
to  heavy  grounded  hummocks.  Here  Ave  were 
£Tound  at  low  water,  thei-e  being  nine  feet  rise  of 
tide  at  this  place,  which  happened  to  be  Kane's  Life- 
boat Cove,  lat.  78^  23^'  N.,  long.  73«  21'  W.  We 
kept  an  anxious  lookout  all  the  time  from  the  mast- 
head of  our  vessel  for  signs  of  the  party;  but  the 
sharpest  eyes  on  shipboard  failed  to  see  aught  of  then). 
As,  however,  they  had  the  boats,  even  to  the  little 
Bcow,  we  were  in  hopes  they  would  possibly  be  able 
yet  to  make  for  us. 


PUEPAllING    FOIl    WJNTER. 


779 


"On  tlie  17tli  I  surveyed  the  ship,  and  found  the 
stem  entirely  broken  oit'  below  the  six-foot  mark.  I 
culled  the  officers  attention  to  it,  who  only  wondered 
she  had  kept  afloat  so  long.  I  therefore  considered 
the  Polaris  a  lost  vessel,  and  immediately  made  prep- 
arations for  leaving  her  and  living  on  shore  during 
the  winter,  getting  our  spare  sails,  coals  and  provis- 
ions on  shore.  We  were  assisted  in  this  by  the  Etah 
Esquimaux,  who  came  to  us  the  day  after  we  got 
ashore.  When  these  Es(pvimaux  hove  in  sight, 
gesticulating  and  hollooing  with  great  apparent  glee, 
we  took  them  to  be  our  castaways,  and  immediately 
cheered  most  heartily  in  return.  We  put  up  a  house 
on  shore,  which  was  superintended  by  Mr.  Chester, 
those  not  engaged  in  building  it  being  occupied  get- 
ting provisions  and  fuel,  which  they  did  witl.  a  great 
deal  of  difficulty,  as  they  had  to  leap  from  one  detached 
piece  of  ice  to  another  all  the  way  to  the  shore.  Often 
some  of  the  party  would  tumble  through  fissures  and 
jxet  wet,  which  was  a  threat  inconvenience,  considering 
the  insufficient  supply  our  wardrobe  furnished  for 
change. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  21st  we  had  a  number  of 
Esquimaux  visitors.  They  came  in  five  sledges,  and 
kindly  went  to  work  to  assist  us,  pioving  of  excellent 
service.  In  a  short  time  we  had  all  the  portable 
articles  from  the  ship  on  shore.  I  made  them  such 
presents  as  our  scanty  stock  would  ])ermit,  and  they 
expressed  themselves  well  pleased.  It  was  fortunate 
that,  among  other  articles  put  on  the  floe,  were  a 
number  of  those  indispensable  articles  to  an  Escjui- 
maux — a  quantity  of  knives.  On  the  2'ith  they  left 
us  for  Etah,  we  having  completed  our  work  for 
abandoning  the  vessel.     At  six  P.  M.  we  stopped  the 


mmm 


780 


VISIT   FROM   THE    NATIVES. 


steam  pumps  to  let  lier  fill,  and  bid  farewell  to  the 
little  Polaris  which  had  penetrated  through  dangers 
and  hard  knocks  to  a  high  latitude,  hut  which  was 
destined  not  to  return  with  the  honors  she  had  gained. 
During  the  remainder  of  the  month  we  were  visited 
by  natives — men,  women,  and  children. 

"  I  sent  a  i)arty  to  McGary's  Hock  in  search  of  Dr. 
Hayes'  boat  and  provisions,  but  could  discover  no 
sign  of  her.  I  was  afterwards  informed  by  the 
natives,  that  a  party  from  the  West  Land  found  her 
five  years  ago  and  approj>riated  to  their  own  use  what 
was  serviceable  to  them ;  the  boat  they  discovei'ed  to 
be  worthless  and  full  of  holes.  At  high  water  the 
lower  decks  of  the  Polaris  were  coveied,  the  M'ater 
rising  to  within  three  feet  of  the  upper  deck,  the  ves- 
sel being  firm  on  the  rocks.  I  was  in  hopes  she 
would  remain  in  that  position,  as  we  had  to  get  fuel 
from  her,  and  material  for  making  our  boats  for  our 
summer  journey  south. 

"  We  spent  the  winter  months  of  November,  Decem- 
ber and  January  in  household  duties — getting  ice  for 
melting  purposes,  supi)lying  galley  and  house  stoves 
with  coal,  and  keeping  passage  ways  to  and  from  the 
house  free  from  snow.  A  great  many  foxes  were  shot. 
We  were  visited  continually  by  the  natives,  who 
were  sufferini;  a  ffreat  deal  fi'om  cold  and  hun2:er. 
Several  of  the  families  made  their  residence  with  us 
for  the  most  of  the  winter,  building  snow-huts  for 
themselves,  where  they  slept.  We  supplied  them 
w  ith  a  share  of  the  provisions  we  had,  but  still  they 
had  to  kill  a  great  many  of  their  dogs  in  order  to 
give  their  children  fresh  meat.  Two  families  in  par- 
ticular reduced  their  team  of  dogs  to  one,  and  another 
family  to  two. 


THE   WINTER   AT    LIFE-BOAT   COVE. 


781 


"  Some  of  our  people  Lad  slight  attacks  of  scurvy, 
principally  in  the  gums,  but  in  general  the  health  of 
our  party  remained  good.  The  month  of  February 
brought  us  daylight.  On  the  15th,  the  sun  was  seen 
for  the  first  time  since  its  disappearance  on  the  10th 
of  November.  'We  had  now  to  consume  thebowsprit, 
masts  and  rigging  for  fuel,  these  fortunately  having 
been  landed.  The  only  material  for  buikling  boats 
was  the  ceiling  of  the  alley-ways  and  after-cabin — the 
house  on  deck  being  used  as  fuel.  The  following 
months  Avere  occupied  in  building  boats  for  our  jour- 
ney. 

"  Shooting  parties  went  out  occasionally,  but,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  hares,  generally  returned 
unsuccessful.  There  was  one  deer  killed  during  the 
season,  but  a  great  many  were  seen.  Although  the 
natives  had  left  us  some  time  for  their  respective  set- 
tlements and  liunting  grounds,  they  still,  however, 
continued  to  visit  us ;  and,  as  if  to  remind  us  of  our 
former  kindness  to  them,  which  tliey  appeared  to 
have  ajipreciated,  kept  bringing  to  us  quantities  of 
walrus  liver,  which  made  a  great  improvement  in  the 
health  of  our  party. 

"  I  had  suitable  bags  made  out  of  the  foresail,  and 
filled  them  with  provisions  for  our  journey.  I  also 
built  a  small  boat  out  of  some  square  lumber  for  the 
Etah  natives,  which  will  be  a  great  accpiisition  to 
them  in  sealing  and  getting  eggs  from  the  islands. 
By  the  28tli  of  May  all  our  preparations  were  made. 
I  must  compliment  Mr.  Chester,  who  superintended 
the  building  of  these  boats.  They  are  creditable 
scows — far  better  structures  than  I  thought  could 
have  been  made  out  of  the  material  we  had.  They 
are  flat-bottomed,  and  carry  considerable  weight.  The 
45 


782 


THE   START  HOMEWARD. 


open  water  was  by  this  time  close  up  to  our  house. 
Our  provisions  and  what  limited  clothing  we  were  to 
take  with  us,  were  brought  down  to  the  water's  edge 
to  be  in  readiness  for  embarkation.  There  still 
remained  with  us  two  native  families,  and  during  the 
winter  and  spring  we  were  visited  by  nearly  all  the 
natives  from  Etah  to  Cape  York.  There  were  during 
this  time  three  deaths  and  one  birth  among  the 
natives.  One  of  the  former  was  Myouk,  (mentioned 
by  Dr.  Kane,)  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  visit  us 
after  our  vessel  got  on  shore. 

"I  had  intended  starting  on  the  1st  of  June,  but 
that  day  being  Sunday  I  postponed  our  departure 
until  the  following  day.  It  was  then  blowing  a  gale 
of  wind  and  we  could  not  start  with  safety.  In  the 
meantime  we  deposited  several  boxes  containing 
books,  scientific  instruments,  three-box  chronometers 
and  the  pendulum,  on  the  north  side  of  Lifeboat  Cove, 
and  covered  them  with  rocks.  At  1  a.  m.,  on  June 
3d,  I  called  all  hands,  got  a  hasty  breakfast,  and  left 
our  house  for  the  last  time,  dividing  our  party  into 
two  equal  parts.  We  then  launched  our  boats,  two 
in  number,  placed  our  provisions  and  clothing  in. 
them,  and  left  Polaris  Point  and  the  scenes  of  our 
long  winter  stay,  for  Melville  Bay  and  Upernavik. 

"  Having  made  a  halt  at  the  settlement  of  Etah, 
which  we  found  deserted,  we  reached  Hakluyt 
Island  late  on  the  evening  of  the  4th,  meeting  with 
but  little  obstruction  from  ice.  A  gale  of  wind  and 
pack  ice  prevented  us  leaving  until  the  8th.  "We 
then  landed  on  Northumberland  Island.  The  ice 
impeded  our  further  progress.  At  eight  p.  m.  on  the 
10th,  having  previously  made  three  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  get  forward,   we  entered  a  lead   that 


THE   JOURNEY    SOUTHWARD. 


783 


extended  across  the  whole  sound  toward  Cape  Pariy, 
our  intended  route.  We  were  met  by  a  heavy  body 
of  pack  ice  which  completely  closed  us  in,  and  were 
compelled  hastily  to  haul  our  loaded  boats  on  the  ici 
to  keep  them  from  being  crushed. 

"  We  drifted  with  the  pack  all  that  night,  and  the 
morning  of  the  11th  found  us  abreast  of  our  former 
encampment.  We  were  then  about  four  miles  from 
the  shore.  There  was  a  small  lead  of  water  along 
the  land.  We  had  to  go  to  it  or  go  adrift  in  the  pack. 
We  commenced  at  once  to  transport  our  provisions 
and  boats  over  the  pieces  of  floe.  After  a  great  deal 
of  exertion  and  labor,  we  finally  succeeded  in  getting 
a  landing,  at  2.30,  on  the  morning  of  the  11th,  in  the 
same  place  we  left  the  evening  before.  On  the  1 2th 
there  was  a  good  opening  in  the  ice.  We  started  at 
10.30,  and  with  a  good  breeze  we  reached  the  main- 
land. We  pulled  round  Cape  Parry,  and  halted  on 
Blackwood  Point  south  of  Cape  Parry  and  near  Fitz- 
clarence  Rock.  On  the  evenin}?  of  the  next  dav  we 
landed  at  Dalrymple  Island.  From  this  point  we 
met  with  various  obstructions  from  ice  and  bad 
weather.  We  finally  succeeded  in  getting  past  Wol- 
stenholm  Sound  and  Cape  York.  We  afterwards 
entered  Melville  Bay,  meeting  with  various  obstruc- 
tions from  ice,  and  in  some  places  we  had  to  haul 
our  boats  and  effects  over  from  the  one  lead  to  the 
other. 

"  We  were  thus  proceeding  on  our  journey  south 
until  the  morning  of  June  23d,  when  we  saw  a  steam- 
ship beset  about  ten  miles  south.  We  were  then 
about  twenty-five  miles  south-east  of  Cape  York,  and 
hauled  up  on  the  ice.  The  passage  was  completely 
blocked  with  ice.    A  few  hours  previous  to  this  my 


784 


BESGUED    BY   THE   RAVENSCRAIO. 


boat  got  stove,  having  been  caught  between  the  floe 
and  land  ice ;  but  we  had  it  repaired  with  canvas  and 
tacks  brought  for  the  purpose.  At  this  time  our  fuel 
was  very  scarce,  not  having  more  than  would  last  a 
week.  For  some  time  we  had  but  one  hot  meal  in 
twenty-four  hours,  reserving  our  fuel  for  melting 
snow  for  drinking  water,  as  we  were  unable  to  pro- 
cure any  off  the  floe. 

"  I  sent  two  of  our  party  to  the  vessel  to  let  them 
know  of  our  situation.  Before  reaching  the  vessel, 
however,  they  were  met  by  a  party  of  eighteen  men 
from  the  ship — these  latter  having  recognized  a  party 
on  the  floe — who  had  come  to  render  what  assistance 
was  in  their  power  to  what  they  supposed  was  the 
crew  of  a  shipwrecked  whaleship.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  two  of  the  party,  who  went  back  to  their 
vessel  with  an  account  of  us,  the  rest  came  back  to 
the  boats  with  the  men  Avhom  I  had  sent.  I  made 
immediate  preparations  to  get  on  board  the  steamer, 
the  men  from  this  vessel  kindly  assisting  us  with  our 
personal  effects.  We  started  at  seven  p.  m.,  leaving 
our  boats,  provisions,  etc.,  behind,  and  arrived  at 
twelve  meridian  on  board  the  whaling  ship  Raven- 
scraig,  Kirkcaldy,  Scotland,  William  Allen,  master, 
bound  for  the  West  Coast  on  a  whaling  voyage. 

"  I  cannot  express  myself  in  terms  sufficiently  ade- 
quate of  the  kind  reception  we  got  from  Captain 
Allen,  who  immediately  opened  his  own  wardrobe 
for  our  benefit.  The  surgeon  of  the  ship,  Mr.  A.  D. 
Soutter,  was  most  assiduous  in  his  efforts  to  promote 
our  comfort — indeed,  all  the  officers  and  crew  vied 
with  each  other  in  their  efforts  to  make  us  comfort- 
able. 
I     "  We  had  at  the  time  we  were  rescued  only  just 


EfClDEHTS   OF  THE  EE8CUE. 


785 


commenced  the  fliflRcult  part  of  our  journey,  and  had 
yet  to  make  some  three  hundred  miles  of  hard  travel 
before  we  ould  get  to  a  place  of  comparative  safety. 
Captain  Allen  expressed  his  gratification  in  falling  in 
with  u«,  SL^  he  and  his  officers  expressed  their 
undoubted  conviction  that  it  would  have  been  utterly 
impossible  for  nn  to  reach  the  settlements  in  our  boats, 
especiall}'^  if  we  had  in  store  for  us  anything  like  the 
ice  which  the  Raven scraig  encountered  the  previous 
three  week*.  It  was  very  evident  that  our  boats 
would  not  have  stood  hauling  over  the  ice,  and  to 
have  abandon^-ol  them  and  attempted  to  make  the 
journey  on  fwit  was  simply  not  to  be  entertained  a  sin- 
gle moment.  It  was,  therefore,  lucky  that  the  Raven- 
Bcraig  fell  in  with  us.  As  I  may  say  with  safety,  it 
was  the  saving  of  our  lives.  We  were  surprised  and 
greatly  rejoice*!  to  hear  of  the  safety  of  our  fellow- 
exploreri*  who  had  got  adrift  from  us." 

Captain  Allen^  whose  ship  -was  fast  in  the  ice  at 
the  time^  describes  the  incidents  of  the  rescue  as 
follows : — 

^'  At  one  o'clock  a.  m.,  on  ilie  morning  of  the  23d 
of  June,  the  lookout  from  the  crow's  nest  reported 
that  a  party,  supposed  to  be  Esquimaux,  were  making 
their  way  over  the  pack  ice  towards  the  vessel.  At 
this  time  they  were  a  long  \N'ay  distant,  probably 
thirteen  or  fourteen  miles,  an<l  appeared  to  move  very 
slowly.  By  nine  a.  m.  the  strangers  had  advanced  a 
mile  or  two  nearer,  and  came  to  a  halt.  We  could  then 
just  make  out  that  they  were  not  Esquimaux,  and 
could  dLstingni<^h  two  boats,  each  of  Avhich  displayed 
a  small  f!a«r  **n  a  pole.  Owing  to  the  distance  and 
refraction  it  wa«*  almost  impossible  to  make  this  out 
with  certainty.     Concluding  they  had  seen  us,  our 


786 


HOSPITALITY   OF  A  SCOTCH   WHALER. 


ensign  was  at  once  hoisted  as  a  reply  signal,  and  w« 
sent  off  eighteen  picked  men  to  render  any  assistance 
required,  while  the  strangers  were  observed  to  detach 
two  of  their  number  in  the  direction  of  the  vessel. 
When  these  met  our  party,  the  whole  preceded  on- 
ward to  the  boats,  and  a  messenger  Avas  sent  back  to 
inform  us  of  the  news. 

"  At  six  p.  M.  the  entire  party  started  for  the  ves- 
sel, and  some  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  traveling  over 
such  ice  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
twelve,  midnight,  before  they  got  on  board,  taking 
nearly  seven  hourc  to  perform  t^velve  miles  distance. 
This  arose  from  the  soft  and  slushy  state  of  the  deep 
snow  covering  the  ice,  while  myriads  of  huge  hum- 
mocks were  piled  everywhere  over  the  surface,  which 
Avas  also  split  up  and  full  of  treacherous  holes,  into 
which  many  a  flounder  took  place.  The  party  on 
reaching  the  ship  was  made  heaitily  welcome,  and 
as  comfortable  as  the  means  at  our  command  could 
supply.  They  appeared  tired  and  weatherbeaten,  but 
in  good  spirits  and  thankful  at  having  fallen  in  with 
a  '  Scotch  whaler,'  for  which  vessels  they  were  on  the 
lookout,  knowing  as  the  commander  did,  that  the 
whalers  about  this  time  pas&ad  through  Melville  Bay." 

After  reaching  the  North  Water,  Captain  Budding- 
ton  and  ten  of  his  companions  were  transferred  to 
the  whaling  steamer  Arctic,  and  arrived  at  Dundee 
on  the  18th  of  September.  Proceeding  to  Liverpool, 
they  were  tendered  a  free  passage  homo  by  several 
steamship  lines,  and  took  passage  in  the  City  of  Ant- 
werp, which  reached  New  York  on  the  4th  of  October. 
The  other  three  men  were  taken  to  Dundee  in  the 
Intrepid,  and  arrived  home  a  little  later. 


CHAPTER  L. 


^vr 


GERMAN  ARCTIC  EXPEDITIONS. 

Du.  ArousTrs  Peteumaxn,  luivini;  unsncoessfully 
iiicitetl  his  Gcniian  countnincn  to  join  th(!  noble 
band  of  Arctic  cxiilorei'M,  jit  his  own  risk  fitted  out  a 
tiny  vessel  called  the  "Gerniania,"  uliicli  sailed  from 
Beri^on,  May  24tli,  1808,  under  tlie  coiiinian<l  of  Karl 
Koldewey,  a  native  of  Iloya,  in  Hanover.  The  whole 
crew  nunil)ered  only  eleven  men.  Being  iinabUi  to 
approach  tlie  east  coast  of  Greenland,  Ca|)t.  Koldewey 
made  for  tlie  Spitsbergen  seas,  and  attained  a  latitude 
of  81"  5'.  He  then  sailed  down  HinlojM'n  Strait 
in  August,  sighting  the  "Swedish  Foreland,"  and 
i-eturued  to  Bergen  September  J50th,  ISOS. 

Thi^  first  German  expedition  was  not  a  success — 
neither  was  it  a  failure;  and  Dr.  Petermann  and  bis 
friends  were  not  discouraged.  It  awakened  an  inter- 
est in  Polar  exjdoration  which  resulted  in  a  second 
expedition  of  two  vesscds — a  screw  steamer  re-named 
the  Germania  and  manned  by  a  crt^v  of  seventeen, 
and  the  brig  Ilansa,  with  a  crew  of  fourteen,  under 
the  command  of  Capt.  Hegemanrf.  The  whole  (expe- 
dition was  put  under  the  command  of  Koldewey, 
who  took  as  his  flag-ship  the  "Germania;"  and,  in 
addition,  there  were  attached  to  both  ships  several 
eminent  men  of  science,  pi'ovided  wdth  every  requisite 

787 


'■] 


I 


I 


788 


DESTEUCTION    OF   THE   HAN8A. 


necessary  for  the  successful  performance  of  their 
duties.  King  William  came  down  and  bade  them 
good-bye ;  a  distinguished  party  gave  them  a  fai-ewell 
dinner,  and  out  of  the  good  harbor  of  Bremen  they 
sailed  more  Teutonico  to  the  strains  of  a  brass  band, 
on  the  loth  of  June,  1869. 

In  latitude  70"=^  46  ^  longitude  10°  51  ^  the  "  ITansa,'' 
which  had  on  board  some  of  the  supplies  of  fuel  foi- 
herself  and  consort,  got  separated  from  the  "Gernia- 
nia,"  and  M^as  caught  in  the  ice;  and  on  the  2 2d  of 
October  the  ice-floes,  pressing  on  every  side,  crushed 
her.  Then,  homeless  in  the  midst  of  this  dreary  ice- 
field, with  the  winter  coming  on,  the  crew  Iniilt  on  the 
floe,  with  the  patent  fuel,  a  house  in  which  they  took 
refuge.  In  this  strangest  of  all  abodes  they  passed 
Christmas — not  uncheei'fully  on  the  whole.  In  two 
months  the  current  had  carried  them  south  four  hun- 
dred miles,  and  though  they  were  only  thirty  miles 
from  land,  it  was  impossible  to  reach  it.  On  the  27th 
of  November,  their  track-map  shows  that  they  were 
just  about  half-way  Ijetween  Greenland  and  Iceland. 
Shortly  after  their  Christmas  festivities,  the  floe  split 
and  ruined  their  house.  For  some  time  it  would 
aeem  as  if  their  lives  hung  on  a  thread.  But  they 
were  destined  for  better  things.  The  floe  righted 
again,  and  they  left  their  boats,  to  Avliich  they  had 
been  forced  to  flee,  and  again  built  tlieir  fuel  house. 
On  the  3d  of  January  1870,  they  were  close  to  the 
Greenland  coast,  but  could  only  survey  it  in  sadness, 
as  the  broken  ice  precluded  the  possibility  of  ever 
reaching  it. 

As  spring  advanced  their  situation  was  more  cheer- 
ing in  one  sense,  but  more  depressing  in  another. 
Their  ice  island  had  now,  by  the  lashing  of  the  surge 


CRUISE    OF   THE    GERIIANIA. 


789 


and  the  melting  of  the  ice,  got  reduced  until  it  was 
not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  in  breadth.  By  May 
their  sextants  told  them  that  they  had  drifted  eleven 
hundred  miles  on  their  cheerless  raft.  Finally,  on 
the  14th  of  June,  they  arrived  in  safety  in  their  three 
boats  at  the  Greenland  Moravian  Mission  station  of 
Fried riksthal,  in  latitude  OO*^,  just  on  the  other  side 
of  Cape  Farewell.  Here  they  met  tlieir  countrymen 
of  the  Herrnhuttian  Unitas  Fratrum^  and  once  more 
were  safe,  after  perils  very  similar  to  those  experi- 
enced by  the  Polai'is  ice-floe  party.  Kot\vitlistanding 
all  their  hardships  none  of  the  crew  died,  though 
one  of  them  became  temporarily  insane. 

Fairer  fortune  attended  the  steam-aided  "  Germania." 
She  succeeded  in  sailing  up  the  East  Greenland  coast 
to  as  high  as  To'*  30',  but  in  August  Avas  forced  to 
turn  again  to  the  southward,  and  Avinter  among  the 
Pendulum  Islands,  in  latitude  74''  o9'.  From  this 
central  point  many  excursions  were  made,  and  tliough 
at  times  the  thermometer  sank  as  low  as  40"  below 
zero  (of  Fahrenheit),  yet  musk  oxen — strange  enough 
— being  abundant,  they  passed  a  not  unpleasant 
winter — as  Avinters  in  74**  of  north  latitude  go. 
Christmas  was  absolutely  warm  (only  25°  beloAv  zero), 
and  with  open  doors  they  danced  and  feasted  as  it  had 
been  their  custom  to  do  in  festive,  Christmas-loving 
Germany.  "  By  starlight,''  says  Captain  Koldewey, 
"  we  danced  upon  the  ice ;  of  the  QXQVgYQi^n  Andromeda 
(^Cassiope  tetragonal  we  made  a  Christmas  tree;  the 
cabin  was  decorated  with  flags,  and  the  presents 
which  lovinc;  hands  had  preiiared  were  laid  out  ui 


ipon 


the   tables;    every  one  received  his  share,  and   uni- 
versal mirth  prevailed." 

After  this  holiday  time,  the  explorers  began  to 


790 


IMPORTANT    DISCOVERIES. 


think  of  business.  The  sledge  equipments  were  got 
ready,  and  after  one  false  stait,  a  party  of  seven  set 
out,  March  24th,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Kolde- 
wey  and  Lieutenant  Payer — one  of  the  scientific  corps 
of  the  expedition.  Dragging  the  provision-laden 
sledge  behind  them,  they  set  their  faces  to  the  north, 
and  after  reaching  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  the  ship,  want  of  provisions  compelled 
them  to  return.  On  the  27th  of  April,  laden  with 
zoological,  geological,  and  botanical  collections,  but 
decidedly  sceptical  regarding  the  "open  Polar  sea," 
they  regained  the  deck  of  the  "  Germania."  A  grim 
cape — which  has  been  appropriately  named  after 
Prince  Bismarck — marks  the  northern  limit  of  their 
discoveries.  ' 

As  soon  as  navigation  was  again  opened  they  com- 
menced their  explorations,  and  were  fortunate  enough 
to  discover  (in  about  latitude  73°  15')  a  branching 
fiord,  stretching  for  a  long  distance.  This  they 
explored  between  longitudes  22^^  and  28®,  without 
reaching  its  termination,  the  leaking  boiler  of  the 
engine  compelling  them  to  return.  This  fiord  was 
named  Franz  Josef,  in  honor  of  Payer's  sovereign. 
Along  its  shores  are  peaks  (Petermann's  and  Payer's), 
respectively  fourteen  thousand  and  seven  thousand 
feet  high.  On  the  11th  of  September  1870,  the 
Germania  returned  to  Bremen.  Though  the  expedi- 
tion failed  in  some  of  its  objects  it  did  admirable 
work  for  geography  and  science,  which  redounds  to 
the  credit  of  the  German  people  who  supported  and. 
the  eminent  men  who  planned  and  carried  it  out. 

The  Austro-Hungarian  Arctic  Expedition  was 
undertaken  in  1872,  and  the  idea  was  received  with 
enthusiasm  by  the  whole  Austrian   empire.     The 


re  got 

en  set 
Kolde- 
3  corps 
-laden 
north, 
d  fifty 
pelled 
I  with 
s,  but 
r  sea," 
L  grim 
after 
their 


T  com- 

loiigh 

lehing 

they 

ithoiit 

f  the 

I  was 

reign. 

^er's), 

Lisand 

',   the 

?pedi- 

irable 

ds  to 

I  and 

t. 

was 

with 

The 


1 


f- 


COUNT  WILCZEC  IN  NOVA  ZEMRLA. 


LIEUT.    PAYER  S   EXPEDITION". 


791 


command  was  entrusted  to  Lieut.  Payer,  an  accom- 
])li8hed  and  resolute  officer,  who  bad  already  acquired 
considerable  Arctic  experience  in  the  German  expedi- 
tion under  Captain  Koldewey.  He  had  also  in  1871 
explored  the  seas  between  Spitzbergen  and  Nov^a 
Zembla  in  a  little  schooner  called  the  Isbjorn.  Lieut. 
Weyprecht,  the  second  in  command,  waj  the  comrade 
of  Lieut.  Payer  in  both  his  previous  Arctic  voyages. 
The  steamer  "Tegethoff"  was  fitted  out  in  the  Elbe, 
with  every  modern  appliance.  Captain  Carlsen,  the 
finder  of  the  Barentz  relics,  joined  the  expedition  as 
pilot.  Dr.  Kepes,  the  surgeon,  is  a  Hungarian.  Most 
of  the  crew  are  Italians  from  the  Adriatic  coast ;  but 
there  is  great  confusion  of  tongues  on  board  the 
"Tegethoff" — Italian,  German,  English,  Norwegian, 
and  Slavonic,  are  all  spoken.  Captain  Carlsen  gives 
his  orders  in  Norwegian,  with  forcible  Italian  expres- 
sions occasionally  thrown  in.  Dr.  Kepes  talks  to  the 
crew  in  Latin  and  Hungarian,  and  two  men  speak  a 
very  curious  dialect,  the  German  of  the  Tyrol,  which 
Lieut.  Payer  alone  understands. 

Count  Wilczek,  in  the  yacht  "Isbjorn,"  accompanied 
by  Baron  Stern eck,  a  geologist,  a  photographer,  and 
the  count's  huntsman,  went  as  far  as  the  Nova  Zera- 
l)la  coast.  Lieut.  Payer's  intention  was  to  round  the 
noi'th-eastern  point  of  Nova  Zembla,  and  press  east- 
ward to  the  most  northern  point  of  Siberia,  where  he 
would  winter.  In  the  following  year  he  hoped  to 
continue  the  voyage  to  Bering's  Strait — thus  complet- 
ing a  most  important  and  interesting  achievement, 
while  during  the  spring  his  sledge  traveling  parties, 
equipped  on  McClintock's  system,  would  make 
exploring  along  the  unknown  coasts  of  AVrangell 
Land. 


792 


THE  "tEGETHOFf"  AND   "  ISBJOEN." 


The  "Tegethoff"  left  tlie  Elbe  in  June  1872,  and 
all  preparations  having  been  completed,  she  steamed 
out  of  Tromso  Harbor  on  the  13th  of  July.  The  first 
ice  was  encountered  on  the  25th,  in  latitude  74^*  15', 
and  on  the  29th  the  coast  of  Nova  Zembla  was 
sighted.  Here  the  vessel  was  beset,  but  steam  was 
got  up,  and,  by  repeated  charges,  she  was  extricated, 
and  reached  a  lane  of  open  water,  about  twenty 
miles  wide,  to  the  north  of  the  Matochkin  Strait.  On 
the  12th  of  August  the  "  Isbjom  "  arrived  with  Count 
Wilczek  and  his  companions  on  board,  and  on  the 
13th  the  two  vessels  anchored  about  two  cables' 
lengths  from  the  shore,  in  latitude  76^^  30'.  The 
18th  was  a  gala  day,  being  the  Emperor's  birthday. 
Excursions  to  the  adjoining  islands  were  made  daily 
by  several  sledge-parties  who  returned  with  quantities 
of  fire-wood,  geological  and  botanical  specimens,  and 
spoils  of  the  chase. 

On  the  23d,  the  north  wind  set  in  with  great  force, 
and  the  young  ice  began  to  form.  The  vessels  then 
parted  company.  The  "Tegethoff"  steamed  away 
northwards  on  her  gallant  voyage  of  discovery,  and 
the  "  Isbjorn  "  started  for  home. 

The  "Tegethoff"  was  last  seen  August  23d,  1872, 
pushing  her  way,  round  the  northern  coast  of  Nova 
Zembla ;  and  all  who  love  gallantry  and  adventure,  all 
geographers  and  seamen  of  every  civilized  country, 
must  earnestly  hope  that  the  next  news  of  the  brave 
Austro-Hungarians  will  be  good  ncAvs,  and  that  they 
will  succeed  in  their  useful  but  difficult  undertaking. 
Up  to  November,  1873,  nothing  additional  had  been 
heard  of  from  the  expedition. 


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RKLICS   OF  THE   nirTCII    KXPKDITION. 


M 


BABENTZ'S  HOUSE   AT  ICE-HAVKH. 


CHAPTER  LI. 


^X 


SWEDISH  AND  NORWEGIAN  EXPEDITIONS. 

TiiE  Ktorjr  of  the  Dutch  expedition  which  wintered 
at  Nova  ZemlAa  in  1596  has  been  related  in  Chapter 
IV-  Thw  voyage  of  Barentz,  though  the  first, 
remained  the  only  one  which  had  rounded  that  north- 
east point  of  Nova  Zembla ;  and  the  house  of  Barentz 
was  unvmtcrd  for  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
years.  But  the  spell  was  broken  in  1871.  Elling 
Carlsen,  a  Norwegian  captain,  who  had  been  engaged 
in  the  North  Sea  trade  for  eighteen  years,  sailed  from 
Hammerfeftt  on  the  16th  of  May,  in  a  sloop  of  sixty 
tons,  called  the  "  Solid."  He  reached  the  Ice  Haven 
of  Barentz  September  7th,  and  on  the  9th  saw  a  house 
stai]ding  at  the  head  of  the  bay.  The  materials  had 
evidently  belonged  to  a  ship,  and  among  them  were 
several  oak  l^earas.  Round  the  house  were  standing 
several  lar^e  puncheons,  and  there  were  also  heaps  of 
reindeer,  «eal,  bear,  and  walrus  bones.  The  interior  is 
described  by  Captain  Carlsen  exactly  as  represented 
in  the  canons  old  draAving  by  Gerrit  de  Veer,  the 
historian  of  the  Dutch  Expedition. 

The  houiie  in  which  Barentz  and  his  gallant  crew 
had  wintered,  can  never  have  been  entered  by  human 
foot  daring  nearly  three  centuries  that  have  since 
elapsed.    The  row  of  standing  bed-places  along  one 

793 


794 


ICE  HAVEN    RE-VISITED. 


side  of  the  room,  the  halberd,  and  the  muskets,  were 
still  in  their  old  places.  There  stood  the  cooking- 
pans  over  the  fire-place,  the  old  clock  against  the  wall, 
the  arms  and  tools,  the  drinking  vessels,  the  instru- 
ments, and  the  books  that  had  beguiled  the  weary 
hours  of  that  long  night,  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  years  ago.  The  "  History  of  China  "  points  to 
the  goal  which  Barentz  sought,  while  the  "  Manual 
of  Navigation  "  indicates  the  knowledge  which  guided 
his  efforts.  Stranger  evidence  never  told  a  more 
deeply  interesting  story. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  1871,  Captain  Carlsen 
completed  his  adventurous  voyage  by  anchoring  once 
more  at  Hammerfest.  The  Dutch  Government  have 
secured  the  numerous  relics  which  he  brought  away, 
for  preservation  in  the  native  land  of  the  great  navi- 
gator, whose  countrymen  feel  an  affectionate  pride  in 
the  glorious  deeds  of  their  "  Sea  fathers,"  and  will 
cherish  these  memorials  of  a  very  noble  achievement 
with  careful  reverence.  Many  of  them,  like  the  old 
clock-dial,  are  very  valuable  in  an  antiquarian  point 
of  view ;  but  not  the  least  interesting  are  the  flute, 
which  will  still  give  out  a  few  notes,  and  the^small 
shoes  of  the  poor  little  ship's  boy  who  died  during 
the  winter. 

For  several  years  past,  Sweden  and  Norway  have, 
with  a  skill  and  resolution  which  do  the  highest 
honor  to  the  gallant  Scandinavian  nation,  prosecuted 
scientific  investigations  within  the  Arctic  Circle. 
The  most  important  of  their  expeditions,  equipped 
under  the  superintendence  of  Professor  Nordenskiold, 
sailed  from  Tromso,  July  21st,  1872.  It  was  com- 
posed of  the  steamer  "  Polhelm,"  the  brig  "  Gladan," 
and  the  steamer  ''Onkel  Adam."    The  "Polhelm" 


N0BDEN9KI0LD  S   SWEDISH  EXPEDITION. 


795 


was  coramanded  by  Lieut.  Palander,  of  the  Swedish 
Koyal  Navy,  and  manned  by  officers  and  men  of  the 
same  service.  The  other  two  vessels  accompanied 
her  as  transports  and  were  to  have  returned  to  Swe- 
den before  the  winter  set  in. 

The  expedition  was  supplied  with  a  dwelling-house, 
for  winter-quarters,  of  six  rooms,  including  kitchen, 
larder,  bathing-room,  and  potato  cellar,  and  three  large 
sheds  attached  to  the  house,  adapted  for  observatories. 
For  the  sledge  parties  were  provided  pemraican,  concen- 
trated rum,  cooking  apparatus,  warm  sleeping  bags, 
sail-cloth  tents,  and  photogene  oil  for  fuel.  Three 
light  ice-boats,  and  two  larger  boats,  formed  the  boat 
equipment,  and  all  were  provided  with  ash-wood 
sledges.  Fifty  reindeer  were  also  shipped,  most  of 
them  from  Kola,  in  Lapland,  with  experienced  Lapland, 
ers,  to  drive  and  attend  them. 

The  three  vessels  reached  Mussel  Bay,  Spitzber- 
gen,  in  lat.  79"  50'  north,  on  the  3d  of  September 
1872  ;  three  days  later  they  were  inextricably  shut  in 
by  the  ice,  and  the  number  of  men  to  be  fed  through 
the  winter  was  thus  suddenly  increased  from  twenty- 
one  to  sixty-seven.  Some  of  the  reindeer,  too,  managed 
to  escape  through  the  carelessness  of  the  Laplanders. 
In  spit'^  of  these  discouragements,  however,  prepara- 
tions for  wintering  progressed  briskly,  and  the  porta- 
ble house  was  being  rapidly  erected  and  furnished. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  the  startling  news  arrived 
that,  at  a  neighboring  promontory  called  Grey  Point, 
six  Norwegian  fishing  vessels,  with  an  aggregate  of 
fifty-eight  men,  were  frozen  in,  and  that,  as  their  pro- 
visions would  not  last  beyond  the  end  of  the  year, 
they  were  sorely  in  need  of  help  from  the  Swedes. 
Nordenskiold  and  his  colleagues  sent  back  word  to 


796 


THE    ICEDOUND    NOUWEOIANS. 


them,  that  they  themselves  liad  been  obliged  to  pro- 
vide for  a  much  larger  consumption  of  victuals  than 
they  had  bargained  for,  l)ut  that  they  were  willing, 
after  the  Ist  of  Decenil)er,  to  share  their  food  with 
them  if  the  Norwegians  would  undertake  to  conform 
strictly  to  the  arrangements  made  by  the  leaders  of 
the  expedition.  They  were  further  informed  that  at 
Ice  Fiord,  on  the  west  coast,  a  house  had  been  erected 
at  a  time  when  it  was  in  contemplation  to  establish 
a  colony  for  the  purpose  of  working  the  phosphate 
beds  there.  This  house  was  warm  and  comfortable, 
and  well-supplied  with  stoves,  and  with  a  stock  of  pro- 
visions. Eighteen  of  tlie  Norwegians  accordingly  de- 
termined to  repair  thither,  while  the  remaining  forty 
stayed  l)y  their  ships. 

On  the  22d  of  Octolier,  Palander  and  five  men 
started  Avith  sledges  to  visit  the  imprisoned  fishermen, 
and  reached  Grey  Point  on  the  24th.  The  eighteen 
men  had  started  for  Ice  Fiord  about  two  weeks 
before.  After  having  done  what  he  could  iu  the  way 
of  advice  to  those  left  behind,  Palander  set  out  to 
return  on  the  2Cth ;  but  though  the  distance  between 
the  two  places  is  only  ten  miles  as  the  crow  flies,  it 
took  no  less  than  five  days  to  get  back  to  the  ships. 

On  the  4th  of  November  a  storm  arose,  which  dis- 
persed the  ice  and  released  two  of  the  imprisoned  fish- 
ing vessels,  and  thirty-eight  of  the  Norwegians  man- 
aged to  reach  home  after  a  long  and  perilous  voyage,  and 
after  vainly  attempting  to  rescue  their  countrymen 
in  Ice  Fiord.  Two  men,  an  old  ice-master  named 
Mattilas  and  his  cook,  remained  at  Grey  Point  by  the 
ice-bound  vessels,  being  unwilling  to  abandon  them. 
They  appear  to  have  endeavored  subsequently  to 
reach  Mussel  Bay,  as  their  corpses  were  found  in  an 
open  boat. 


THE    WINTER    AT    MUSSEL    IJAY. 


797 


111- 


II 


The  fate  of  tlie  eighteen  men  left  in  Ice  Fiord  was 
ascert.'iined  })y  Captain  Mack,  who  discoveivd  tlio 
dead  bodies  of  these  unfortunate  liHliernien,  to^etlier 
witli  a  diary  kept  regularly  from  the  7th  of  October, 
1872,  to  the  8d  of  March,  1873,  and  with  less  regu- 
larity until  the  IDtli  of  April.  From  his  descrijjtion, 
and  from  a  perusal  of  the  diaiy,  it  a[)i)ears  beyond 
doubt  that  their  sad  fate  Avas  due  entirely  to  wjuit  of 
experience.  They  jiractised  no  bodily  exercises,  and 
busied  themselves  with  no  employment — at  hsast  the 
diary  makes  mention  of  none,  and  no  trace  of  any  has 
been  left. 

Turning  from  this  sad  jiicture  to  the  Swedes  in 
their  winter-quarters,  we  fi.id  that  they  were  occupy- 
ing thems.dves  with  severe  bodily  exercises,  the  effect 
of  which  was  so  !)eneficial,  that  only  two  men  died 
of  the  ^\•hoIe  number,  and  all  the  others  enjoyed  good 
health. 

Toward  the  close  of  April,  Nordenskiold  and  Pal- 
a::2der  Avitli  fourteen  men  started  north,  the  intention 
I'eing  to  get  as  near  the  Pole  as  possible.  They  made 
tluir  May  to  Parry  Island;^,  crossing  from  the  North 
C!aj)e  on  tlu;  ice.  Here  they  found  the  ice  so  strong 
to  the  northward  that  the  idea  of  a  long  journey  in 
that  direction  was  out  of  the  question.  They  re- 
turned to  Mussel  Bay  on  the  29th  of  June,  after  an 
absence  of  sixty  days,  during  which  they  encountered 
very  severe  weather.  Subsequently  they  again  en- 
deavored  to  travel  northward  by  sledges  from  Pliippa 
Island,  but  were  prevented   l)y  lack  of  provisions. 

Early  in  June  the  monotony  of  Mussel  Bay  was 
enlivened  by  the  arrival  of  the  Steamship  Diana,  just 
from  England,  having  on  board  Leigh  Smith's  ex- 
ploring party.     On  the  30th  of  June,  the  ice  bi-oke 
46 


708 


ATTEMPTS   TO    RESCUE   THE   NORWEGIANS. 


\ip  and  the  Gladaii  imniodiatoly  started  for  home, 
whither  tlie  Polhelni  soon  foHowed  her,  arrivinir  at 
Tromso  on  the  0th  of  Angust,  1873.  Althougli  the 
expedition  was  forced  to  return  witliout  having 
accoijiplislied  one  of  its  main  objects — the  reacliing  of 
a  very  high  hititude  hy  means  of  sledges, — still,  the 
harvest  of  results  obtained  by  dredging,  by  magnetic, 
meteorological,  botanical,  and  geological  observations 
is  extremely  rich.  These  throw  gi'eat  light  on  the 
amount  and  nature  of  organic  life  within  the  Polar 
Circh^,  as  well  as  on  the  great  physical  changes  which 
those  regions  have  undergone  in  past  times. 

Much  sympathy  was  excited  in  Norway  l^y  the  news 
of  the  ice-bound  fishermen  brought  by  tlioir  com- 
panions, and  immediate  but  unavailing  measures 
were  adopted  for  their  relief.  In  November  1872 
the  steamer  ''  Albert,"  commanded  ])y  Caphiin  Otto, 
sailed  from  Norway  for  Ice  Fiord,  but  was  obliged  to 
return  owing  to  bad  weather  and  the  intense  cold. 
Captain  Kjelsen,  in  the  "  Isbjorn,"  then  madt^  another 
gallant  attempt  to  effect  a  rescue.  lie  sailcMl  from 
Tromso  December  24th.  The  cold  soon  rendered 
navigation  very  difficult ;  but  they  stood  gallantly  on, 
and  came  in  sight  of  Bear  Island  when,  as  tlie  ve^isel 
was  now  otu;  mass  of  ice,  the  attenij,)t  to  reach  Spitz- 
bergen  was  relinquished. 

Nothing  daunted,  a  third  vessel  sailed  for  the 
rescue  in  the  end  of  the  same  month.  This  was  the 
seal  hunter  "  (xroenland,"  manned  by  seventy  men  and 
commanded  by  Captain  Jacob  Melsom.  She  arrived 
off  Bell  Sound,  in  Spitzbergen,  March  Cth,  an<l  forced 
her  way  under  full  steam,  through  the  pack  ice,  up  to 
the  entrance  of  Ice  Fiord,  Avliere  slie  Avas  sto[)])e(l. 
It  was  impossible  to  approach  the  land,  and  Melsom  was 


V 


t\ 


I 


y 


3 


DISASTER    ON    THE   KOVA    ZEMBLA    COAST. 


'09 


obliged  to  givo  up  his  plan  of  sending  a  rc.'cinng 
party  over  the  ice,  to  the  int(M'ior  of  the  fiord.  The 
ice  was  a  mixture  of  ])ay  and  okl  ])ack,  covered  with 
hummocks,  the  vessel  was  ten  miles  from  land,  and 
would  quite  likely  have  been  blown  off  while  the 
sledge  party  was  away.  Captain  Melsom  died  April 
27th.  The  fate  of  the  twenty  fishermen  has  already 
been  related. 

Another  Norwegian,  Captain  Tobieaen,  distinguish- 
ed as  an  Arctic  explorer,  was  obliged  to  pass  the  winter 
of  1872-3  on  the  Nova  Zembla  coast.  Most  of  the 
crew  escaped  overland  to  Archangel.  Tobiesen,  his 
son,  and  two  men  remained  on  the  vessel,  but  finding 
it  leaking  Avere  obliged  to  go  ashore,  where  the  Cap- 
tain and  his  son  died  of  scurvy.  The  two  survivors 
put  off  in  a  boat  in  August,  1873,  and  were  picked 
up  by  a  Russian  vessel. 

England  has  sent  out  no  Arctic  Expedition  since 
the  search  for  Franklin  was  endeil ;  but  several  En- 
glish yachtsmen,  James  Laniont,  B.  Leigh  Smith  and 
others,  have  ciTiised  in  the  Spitzbergen  seas.  Mr. 
Smith's  third  voyage  of  discovery  was  made  in  the 
steamship  Diana,  owned  by  Mr.  Lamont,  which  sailed 
from  Dundee,  May  10th,  1873,  with  Mr.  Smith's 
yacht  Samson  as  a  tender.  When  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mussel  Bay,  a  smack  was  spoken  which  communica- 
ted the  intelligence  that  the  Swedish  expedition  was 
there  frozen  in.  Soon  the  Swedes  were  descried,  and, 
when  they  observed  the  Diana  bearing  down  upon 
them  wuth  all  her  flags  flying,  they  ran  along  the  ice 
to  meet  her.  The  Swedish  vessels  were  lying  close 
in  shore,  and  between  them  and  tlu;  Diana  there  were 
about  three  and-a-half  miles  of  fast  floe,  in  many 
places  seven  feet  thick.  The  unfortunate  explorers  were 


800 


CRUISE   OF  THE  DIANA. 


soon  on  board  the  Diana,  and  received  many  kind- 
nesses. After  supplying  the  Swedes  with  fresli 
provisions,  Mr.  Smith  proceeded  on  his  voyage.  On 
reaching  the  Seven  Islands,  further  progi'ess  was 
barred  by  ice  ;  and  after  visiting  Treuren  berg  Bay, 
Hecla  Cove,  and  other  places,  the  Diana  bore  up  foi* 
Dundee  on  the  IGth  of  September,  1873. 

The  sj)irit  of  Arctic  adventure  has  been  reviving 
in  England  for  several  years,  and  it  seems  probable 
that  a  Government  expedition  on  a  grand  scale  will 
soon  attempt  to  reach  the  Nortli  Pole;  and  the 
route  up  Smith's  Strait  and  Kennedy  Channel — 
whose  waters  thus  far  have  been  navigated  only  by 
United  States  ships — is  admitted  to  be  the  only 
practicable  one.  Lady  Franklin  Avarmly  favors  the 
enterprise,  and  hopes  "  for  the  credit  and  honor  of 
England,  that  the  exploration  of  the  North  Pole  will 
not  be  left  to  any  other  country."  "  The  navy,"  says 
an  English  admiral,  "  needs  some  action  to  wake  it 
lip  from  the  sloth  of  routine,  and  save  it  from  the 
canker  of  prolonged  peace.  The  navy  of  England 
cries  not  for  mere  war  to  gratify  its  desire  for  honor- 
able employment  or  i'ame.  There  are  other  achieve- 
ments as  glorious  as  a  victorious  battle ;  and  a  wise 
ruler  and  a  wise  people  will  be  careful  to  satisfy  a 
craving  which  is  the  life-blood  of  a  profession."  An- 
other English  writer,  speaking  of  Captain  Hall,  says : — 
"  The  rude  wooden  monument  to  the  intrepid  Amer- 
ican, standing  alone  in  the  Polar  solitude,  is  at  the 
same  time  a  grand  memorial,  a  trophy,  and  a  chal- 
lenge." 


i 


I? 


Page  698. 
Page  750. 


Errata. 

For  1870,  read  1871. 
For  1871,  rmd  1872. 


DEATH  OF  ee.  LIlltNESTONE! 


II 


end  1»71. 
Md  1872. 


"LIVINGSTONE  LOST  AND  FOUND, 

OR 

AFRICA  AND  ITS  EXPLORERS," 

is  a  largo  octavo  of  eight  hundred  pages,  elegantly  bound  in 
green  and  gold,  and  beautifully  illustrated  -with  eighty  full-page 
engravings,  four  maps,  and  fac-siniiles  ot  letters  written  by  Dr. 
Livingstone  and  Henry  M.  Stanley.     Price  $3.50.* 

It  gi/es  a  full,  graphic,  and  most  interesting  history  of  the  life 
and  adventures  of  David  Livingstone,  commencing  at  his  early 
home  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  in  Scotland,  and  following  him 
through  all  his  wonderful  travels  and  experiences  up  to  the  time 
when  Stanley  parted  witli  him  in  Central  Africa;  together  with 
all  additional  th.it  is  known  of  him  up  to  tlie  date  of  his  death. 
Nothing  of  interest  relating  to  the  great  traveler  is  omitted,  while 
considerable  obsolete  matter,  to  be  found  in  old  books  about  him, 
is  left  out.  Altogether,  it  is  by  far  tlie  most  interesting,  most  val- 
uable and  most  complete  record  extant,  of  what  Livingstone  expe- 
rienced and  accomplished  during  his  long  and  eventful  life. 

The  thrillijig  story  of  the  adventures  in  Africa  of  the  Stanley 
Expedition,  is  given  in  ten  chapters  of  the  book,  and  will  bo  read 
with  deep  interest  by  all  classes  of  readers.  Much  of  this  narra 
tive  is  in  Staidey's  own  words,  and  gives  vivid  pictures  of  life  on 
the  coast  and  in  the  interior,  with  a  full  account  of  the  iinding 
of  Livingstone  at  Ujiji. 

The  book  also  gives  a  history  of  African  Explorations  from  tho 
earliest  dates,  and  recounts  the  adventures  and  discoveries  of  numer- 
ous travelers  of  nu)dern  times,  among  whom  are  lieade,  Du- 
Chaillu,  Barth,  Campbell,  Moffat,  Anderssen,  Magyar,  Durton, 
Speke,  Grant,  and  l>aker.  The  narrative  of  Lurton  and  Speke's 
journey  to  Ujiji,  over  the  same  route  taken  by  Staidey,  and  of  tho 
experiences  of  Baker  and  his  wife,  form  pleasing  features  of  tho 
work.  It  also  gives  a  general  view  of,  and  much  information  re- 
specting Africa  and  its  inhabitants,  Xatal,  the  slave  trade,  t*^'C.,  etc. 

This  comprehensive  work  is  compiled  and  written  in  part,  by 
Rev.  Josiah  Tyler,  missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  in  Africa,  for 
twenty -two  years  i)ast.  Mr.  Tyler  sailed  from  New  York,  May  lUth., 
1873,  on  the  way  to  his  home  among  the  Zulus. 

I^^PSpeeimen  pages  of  the  book,  with  table  of  contents,  list  of 
illustrations  and  specimen  of  engravings  will  be  sent  free  to  all 
who  wisli  theiu.  Agents  to  introduce  the  book  are  wanted  in 
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COLUMBIAN  BOOK  CO.,  Hartford,  Ct. 

*  Copies  -ttill  I)C  sent  by  iniiil  or  express,  prepiiiii,  to  persons  residing  in  towns  where 
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m^ 


i^*A  New,  Interesting,  and  Instructive  Book. 


^ 


3^ 


o"^ 


AND 


^lo 


By  STEPHEN  FOWEBS. 


^^ 


// 


iil/A 


THE  NAEEATIVE  OF 

A  MOBT  ^^^''^^ix- 

EamarkaWe  Walk     /y^i^ 

3550  Miles 

The  Borders 


TRAVELS 

Sonthern  California, 

TEXAS, 

ARIZONA, 


^^-M^i'ta    NEWBEXICO, 

CIVILIZATION.  ^^^^^jt.  r  =§-  g*g5^ ,  jt»'^»'7«-    Soutkem    states. 


ADVENTURES  AND  OBSERVATIONS 

In    the   Finey-Woods   and    Cotton-Fields    of  the  South; 
IN    THE    APACHE    COUNTRY; 

ON  THE  GREAT  DESERTS  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  ROUTE; 

AND  AMONG  THE 

Sequestered  Shepherds  and  Bedwood  Villages 

OF  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA. 


^ « >  ♦  >«-#i- 


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BY     I'llOF.     C-'IIARLKS     W.     SHIELDS,     I).    U.,     01'     I'KINCKTON     COLLEOE,     N.     /. 

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Few  novels  were  overwritten  that  are  so  fascinatinsj  and  so  thrillinii  as  this  unsfndiccl 
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and  a  new  edition  of  tliat  valuable  book  will  bo  warmly  wclcoincil.  It  will  nivcr  Rrow 
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CONYBEAEE  AED  HOWSOJ^'S 

LIFE  AND  EPISTLES 

OF 

Presenting  a  vivid  picture  of  the  Great  Apostle  and  the  cir- 
cumstances and  influences  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  from 
his  Youth  up  ;  with  unfoldings  of  his  inner  Life,  as  exhibited 
in  his  Writings,  and  abounding  in  graphic  and  scholarly  delin- 
eations of  People,  Countries,  Cities,  Natural  Scenery,  and 
Works  of  Art,  as  he  beheld  them.  With  references  and  notes 
in  the  English  language,  and  the  original  Maps  and  Engravings. 

With  an  Introduction  by 

Rev.  JAMES  McCOSH,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D., 

President  of  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey. 

An  TTnabridgad  Beprint  of  the  Englsh  People's  Idition. 

This  celebrated  and  hitherto  very  expensive  English  work, 
is  now  presented  to  the  American  Public,  at  a  price  which 
brings  '"t^  within  the  reach  of  nearly  all,  and  its  appearance  will 
ie  W(jkt>:  '^d  by  thousands.  It  has  received  the  unqualilied  and 
warmest  couiuiendations  of  eminent  clergymen  and  the  press 
of  all  denominations,  as  a  masterly  and  unrivalled  work, — a  fit- 
ting tribute  to  the  greatness  of  the  Great  Apostle. 

In  mechanical  taste  and  execution  it  is  all  that  can  be  desired, 
and  in  this  respect  is  superior  to  the  English  edition,  having 
many  additional  engravings,  and  being  printed  in  larger  type, 
making  a  mucli  larger  vonnne.  It  is,  in  short,  a  book  of  pecu- 
liar interest  and  value,  faultless  in  its  character,  free  from  all 
sectarianism,  beautiful  in  its  adornments,  and  commanding  the 
admiration  of  all  intelligent  readers. 

This  matchless  Biography  of  tho  jrreatest  of  the  Apostles,  hits  already  won 
praise  from  hundreds  of  thousandH  ot  admirinjr  readers.  It  is  one  wliich  ought 
to  be  in  every  family.  The  typo  of  this  edition  is  largo  and  clear,  thereby  ren- 
dering it  peculiarly  acceptable  to  Buch  people  as  complain  of  tlio  smallness  of 
the  print  in  otlier  editions. —  Tho  G/iurchmdii,  ILirtfmd,  Conn. 

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Eev.  11.  M  Orout,  Pastor  of  Congregational  Church,  West  Springfield,  Must. 

This  work  was  written  by  two  of  tho  most  learned  Clergymen  which  the 
Church  of  England  has  produced  in  our  clay. 

Thfl  Authors  tako  u;)  tho  on,) grand  t'.ji'ini,  an  1  they  gather  matter  to  illus- 
trate it  from  every  quarter.  Tho  wholo  history  of  tiie  jieriod  and  liio  Btnto  of 
tho  world  at  thu  time,  have  been  mado  to  throw  light  on  the  onj  grand  liiyure 
which  is  mado  t(»  pass  beforo  us. — From  the  Introduction,  by  Dr.  McCosh. 


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CJ 

'stle  and  tlie  cir- 
in'ounded,  from 
t'c,  as  exhibited 
scholarly  delin- 
l  Scenery,  and 
onces  and  notes 
md  Engravings. 


■sey. 

■e's  Edition. 

English  work, 
;  a  price  which 
ippearance  will 
unqualiiied  and 
1  and  the  press 
?d  work, — a  fit- 
e. 

can  be  desired, 
edition,  having 
in  larger  type, 
'  book  of  pecu- 

free  from  all 
mmanding  the 

l)n3  already  won 
s  one  wliicli  ought 
dear,  tliereby  rea- 

tlio  Biuallness  of 

ifiedly  commend, 
1  every  family, 
of  his  money." — 
igficld,  Miui. 

2rymen  which  the 

r  matt'T  to  illua- 
l  and  tiioBtntoof 
onj  pfranl  liifuro 
Or.  McUosh. 


,  Conn, 
o. 


